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Fake news story claims Eric Trump said Donald Trump was ending taxes for the rich
A fake Internet post on a website filled with extremely left-leaning stories quoted Eric Trump as saying President Donald Trump was going to end taxes for the rich, making the release of his father’s tax returns irrelevant.
The headline on an April 17, 2017, post on DemocraticMoms.com read, "Eric Trump: ‘My father’s tax return is irrelevant because we’re going to cancel taxes for WEALTHY people anyway.’" The story was flagged by Facebook users as possibly being fabricated, as part of the social media site’s efforts to crack down on fake news.
The post focuses on Donald Trump’s past promise to release his tax returns, referring to a tweet he sent out on April 16:
DemocraticMoms.com cites a fake interview Eric Trump supposedly gave with "KXYL Radio." The post reads:
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"Eric argued that Trump’s tax return is ‘irrelevant,’ largely because ‘he knows all there is to know about following the letter of the law, especially when it comes to paying taxes.’ He said, ‘When you come from a background like the one my father comes from, you have to know all there is about paying taxes and doing your part to make this country a better place.’"
The post goes on, but we know it’s fake, because it steals its content almost entirely from an April 16 story on Politicalo.com. The site is related to Newslo.com, which refers to itself in a disclaimer as "the first hybrid News/Satire platform on the web."
Stories on sites under the Newslo.com umbrella take a small bite of real news or quotes by real people and build fake stories around them. They feature a pair of buttons that allow readers to highlight the true parts of their stories, so readers can conceivably know the difference. But on other sites without the buttons, there’s no way to know.
It appears DemocraticMoms.com edited some of the details of the original post, such as deleting Politicalo.com’s reference to another April 16 Donald Trump tweet backing off his promise to label China a currency manipulator:
The headline also has been changed. The original on Politicalo.com read, "Eric Trump: ‘My father’s tax return is irrelevant because we’re going to cancel taxes for "extra productive people" anyway.’" DemocraticMoms.com subbed in the word WEALTHY instead, IN ALL CAPS for extra effect.
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Otherwise, the story contains entire paragraphs of Politicalo.com’s story (Neither version notes that the radio interview is fake; Politicalo.com calls KXYL an Orlando station, but it’s based in Texas.)
DemocraticMoms.com has a cryptic About Us description that says only that their "team will bring you everything you wanted to know, and some stuff you didn’t even know you needed!"
There was no apparent way to contact the site, but every post was steeped in anti-Trump fervor. No author information accompanies the profile that posted the article, either.
DemocraticMoms.com was registered anonymously on Nov. 20, 2016, after Donald Trump was elected The owner is likely looking to capitalize on anti-Trump sentiment. In this case, it’s by posting a parody story and implying it’s real.
It’s clear Eric Trump didn’t say his dad was going to end taxes entirely for anyone, rich or otherwise.
We rate the statement Pants On Fire!
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Our Sources
DemocraticMoms.com, "Eric Trump: ‘My Father’s Tax Return Is Irrelevant Because We’re Going To Cancel Taxes For WEALTHY People Anyway.’," April 17, 2017
Politicalo.com, "Eric Trump: ‘My Father’s Tax Return Is Irrelevant Because We’re Going To Cancel Taxes For "Extra Productive People" Anyway’," April 16, 2017
PolitiFact, "Trump-O-Meter: Release his tax returns after an audit is completed," Jan. 16, 2017
PolitiFact, "Trump-O-Meter: Declare China a currency manipulator," April 13, 2017
Twitter, Donald Trump tweets, April 16, 2017
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
More by Joshua Gillin
Fake news story claims Eric Trump said Donald Trump was ending taxes for the rich
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