US election: Trump team exposed over fake newspaper front page

Donald Trump’s campaign director has hurriedly deleted a tweet that included a photoshopped newspaper front page he said was real.

An attempt by Donald Trump’s campaign team to smear the “lamestream media” hit a snag this morning when spokesman Tim Murtaugh published a tweet he said showed exactly why broadcasters “doesn’t select the President”.

Tim Murtaugh shared a picture from the kitchen at “Team Trump HQ” of a Washington Times front page from November 8, 2000 with the headline “PRESIDENT GORE” and the declaration that “Florida pushes Gore over the top with bare majority”.

It was supposed to be proof that the media gets it wrong — because George W Bush actually won the election and the state of Florida after just 537 ballots separated the pair.

“A reminder that the media doesn’t select the President,” Murtaugh wrote.

But the newspaper front page which he shared — and which had been plastered on the walls of Team Trump HQ — was itself fake news.

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The actual front page.

A photoshopped front page.

In a spectacular own goal for the Trump team, Murtaugh hurriedly deleted the tweet but not before the damage had been done.

The Washington Times shared Murtaugh’s now-deleted tweet, correcting the record.

“Those photos have been doctored,” they wrote on Twitter. “The Washington Times never ran a ‘President Gore’ headline.

“We also wish to add that Mr Murtaugh has been officially notified via email about this error.”

The pile-on was immediate.

So on-brand (and pathetic) for the Trump campaign to use a photoshopped image. Look closely, the article actually says Bush won. Here's the real cover --> pic.twitter.com/YQvcww9wrj https://t.co/ChVRxygAfa

— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) November 8, 2020

Those photos have been doctored. The Washington Times never ran a "President Gore" headline.

— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) November 8, 2020

1. Trump campaign finds a newspaper article saying Bush won in 2000
2. Photoshops the headline to (wrongly) say Gore won instead
3. Prints out a bunch of copies and puts them up
4. Tweets out photo of the fake version to berate the media for being wrong

This is odd behaviour https://t.co/PPpVf4TVEf

— Sam Clench (@SamClench) November 8, 2020

The conservative Washington Times fact-checks the Trump Campaign's Communications Director @TimMurtaugh pic.twitter.com/K7U3RmrrTv

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) November 8, 2020

Trump campaign spokesman @TimMurtaugh quietly deleted but did not correct his tweet promoting a fake front page to tens of thousands of people. A lie in 3 acts: pic.twitter.com/FDwS67erHZ

— Nicole Perlroth (@nicoleperlroth) November 8, 2020

Wow. When even the Washington Times calls bullshit on @TimMurtaugh and @TeamTrump, you know their control over anti-reality is slipping away rapidly. https://t.co/Ooy78OXbGE

— Kurt "Mask Up, Vote Early" Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 8, 2020

When you’re making up headlines you’ve clearly lost @TimMurtaugh... pic.twitter.com/3ZAn90xAEh

— Jonathan Franks (@jonfranks) November 8, 2020

It's hilarious that you're using literal "fake news" to try to fool the people working for you, but I suppose if they're working for you, they might be dumb enough to fall for it.https://t.co/DrovDSqb0y

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) November 8, 2020

Trump himself continued his attack on the media this morning, tweeting: “Since when does the Lamestream Media call who our next president will be? We have all learned a lot in the last two weeks!”

He also continues to refuse to concede defeat to President-elect Joe Biden who was declared the winner on Sunday.

“I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT,” he tweeted yesterday in all caps.

Trump tweeted quotes from guests on Fox News morning programs to bolster his baseless claims that the election result was fraudulent.

“We believe these people are thieves. The big city machines are corrupt. This was a stolen election. Best pollster in Britain wrote this morning that this clearly was a stolen election, that it’s impossible to imagine that Biden outran Obama in some of these states,” former Republican politician Newt Gingrich said, in one statement repeated approvingly by the President.

“Where it mattered, they stole what they had to steal.”