President Trump called for changes to libel laws Monday after a Time magazine columnist attributed a made-up quote to him and gained considerable social-media traction.
The “quote” posted on Twitter by Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group and a New York University professor, said Mr. Trump favored North Korea’s dictator over former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
“President Trump in Tokyo: ’Kim Jong Un is smarter and would make a better President than Sleepy Joe Biden,’” Mr. Bremmer tweeted.
Such frequent Trump critics as Democratic U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu of California and CNN analyst Ana Navarro shared the tweet, according to the Washington Examiner, on the apparent belief that such a ludicrous quote must be real because of Trump.
Mr. Trump was not amused.
“@ianbremmer now admits that he MADE UP ’a completely ludicrous quote,’ attributing it to me. This is what’s going on in the age of Fake News. People think they can say anything and get away with it. Really, the libel laws should be changed to hold Fake News Media accountable!” the president wrote.
.@ianbremmer now admits that he MADE UP “a completely ludicrous quote,” attributing it to me. This is what’s going on in the age of Fake News. People think they can say anything and get away with it. Really, the libel laws should be changed to hold Fake News Media accountable!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2019
Mr. Bremmer deleted the tweet, but not before having defended it on the grounds of truthiness, both ludicrous “and yet kinda plausible.”
“Especially on twitter, where people automatically support whatever political position they have,” he wrote.
But when media coverage grew as the initial false tweet went viral, he deleted and apologized.
“My tweet yesterday about Trump preferring Kim Jong Un to Biden as President was meant in jest,” he wrote. “I should have been clearer. My apologies,” he wrote Monday.
My tweet yesterday about Trump preferring Kim Jong Un to Biden as President was meant in jest. The President correctly quoted me as saying it was a “completely ludicrous” statement. I should have been clearer. My apologies.
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) May 27, 2019
His apology was “ratioed” — as of 4 p.m., it had more than 3,300 replies against fewer than 650 retweets and 2,200-odd likes.
“That’s not what you said at all to people after it went viral and you were called out for fabrication. You said it was a social media experiment. Was it?” replied National Review podcaster Jeff Blair.
That’s not what you said at all to people after it went viral and you were called out for fabrication. You said it was a social media experiment. Was it?
— Esoteric Jeff (@EsotericCD) May 27, 2019
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.