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Former White House press secretary buys knockoff PS4 controller, blames China

Look more closely at what you buy online.

Photo of Andrew Wyrich

Andrew Wyrich

Ari Fleischer PS4 China Controller Tweet

Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary for President George W. Bush, tried to complain about China this weekend, blaming the country for making a “junk” controller for a newly-bought PlayStation 4 (PS4).

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However, it appears he didn’t notice that the controller was a knockoff—not an actual Playstation product, leading many people to quickly mock Fleischer’s rush to criticize.

“Another reason to distrust China: we bought my kids a PS4 and then got a 2nd controller from Amazon. The controller was made in China of course – and it doesn’t work. It never worked. It’s junk,” Fleisher wrote in a tweet on Sunday.

Ari Fleischer PS4 Controller Tweet
@AriFleischer/Twitter
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It’s a common problem that suspect products are sold on Amazon. But many people quickly pointed out that Fleischer’s complaints about a “junk” product being made in China was quite ironic considering the PlayStation itself is manufactured in China.

And one look at the controller makes it pretty clear it is a knockoff. It says “P4” on the center button and the icons are clearly not the same as a regular PlayStation controller. (You can also buy an actual PlayStation controller on Amazon).

While it’s possible Fleischer doesn’t know all that much about the way an actual PlayStation controller looks, the tweet—which has been deleted—and its immediate ire toward China drew a lot of mockery.

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One Twitter user found what appeared to be the knockoff controller Fleischer bought on Amazon—and noted that it had only a 3-star rating.

You get what you pay for.

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The Daily Dot