No, Fox News didn't get Trump to flash the White House lights on and off
How quickly in an era of malleable truth do tantalizing falsehoods make the rounds.
On Friday, it was Fox News' turn. Network anchors joked in a segment that they'd asked Donald Trump to turn the White House lights on and off if he was watching the show. Their request was followed by a video clip of a light flashing in a far right window of the building as if he really were playing along.
The whole thing was duly tweeted out by "Corgi Dad, Millennial and Trump Supporter" -- and TV political pundit -- Harlan Hill. Cue much merriment.
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People were, naturally, delighted -- and various media fell for it.
The only problem: the whole thing was a joke, presumably centered around recent allegations that Trump tweets out things he's just seen on TV. Like that time this week he called pardoned whistleblower Chelsea Manning an "ungrateful traitor" shortly after Fox News used the same words on screen.
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Or when he suddenly got obsessed with gun violence in Chicago after Fox ran a segment on the city -- among all the other times.
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However much Trump might watch or be influenced by Fox News or other TV shows, there's no proof he'll turn the White House lights on and off like a gleeful three-year-old when the networks asks.
As Politico reporter Alex Weprin pointed out, the whole thing was a joke from the producers and presenters. Not even fake news.
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Stand down Twitter: things are a bit haywire right now, but not that crazy.
Topics X/Twitter Donald Trump
Tim Chester was Senior Editor, Real Time News in Los Angeles. Before that he was Deputy Editor of Mashable UK in London. Prior to joining Mashable, Tim was a Senior Web Editor at Penguin Random House, helping to relaunch the Rough Guides website and other travel brands. He was also a writer for Buzzfeed, GQ and The Sunday Times, covering everything from culture to tech and current affairs. Before that, he was Deputy Editor at NME.COM, overseeing content and development on the London-based music and entertainment site. Tim loves music and travel and has combined these two passions at festivals from Iceland to Malawi and beyond.
