Just like that Abe Lincoln meme claims– you really can’t believe everything you read on the Internet.
In response to altercations that broke out at a Trump campaign event in San Jose, California, on June 2, many turned to social media to express their frustration and anger. Popular conservative Twitter and Facebook accounts bandwagoned on the news and shared a photo of an alleged female Trump supporter beaten by “‘peaceful’ and ‘tolerant’ liberals.”
Original Facebook post:
Original tweet:
The post, which is actually a photo of actress Samara Weaving on set of Ash Vs. Evil Dead, was quickly proven to be false—but not before sparking a wave of anger on the internet. Over 26,000 people shared the post on Facebook, while the original tweet was retweeted over 500 times and received indignant responses.
https://twitter.com/freedoms411/status/739947966283284480
https://twitter.com/Indians4Trump/status/739946370497449985
https://twitter.com/Lolocaustianity/status/739948146583822341
https://twitter.com/woodardjba/status/739971511856009216
TRUMP SUPPORTERS SHOULD GO TO TRUMP RALLIES WITH THEIR LEGAL GUNS,,BE PREPARED TO DEFEND THEMSELVES
— jimmylemons (@jimmylemons) June 7, 2016
A day after the original post was published on Facebook, users discovered that the “female Trump supporter” was actually the Australian actress on set of the comedy horror show, and not in any way connected to the dispute that broke out at the Trump event in San Jose.
https://twitter.com/isaacwmiller/status/740195339773317120
https://twitter.com/MickyGluck/status/739973539701346304
https://twitter.com/madmommadmom/status/740132214571143168
The original Facebook post was authored by an apparent Trump supporter, Greg McCurdy, who did not respond when the Daily Dot reached out for comment. The Twitter account, @Cons_Nation, also could not be reached for comment. Neither party responded to any other users online. Both posts remain published.
