Folks, we're six days into 2020 and the clowns are already showing themselves. A U.S. congressman shared a fake image of former President Barack Obama shaking hands with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani.
Paul Gosar, a Republican from Arizona, tweeted the Photoshopped image on Monday. As CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski noted, the original photo is of Obama shaking hands with former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh.
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Gosar's tweet was rightfully ratio'd for blatantly spreading misinformation. He backtracked, saying he never claimed the photo wasn't Photoshopped and blamed the former American president for getting cozy with "the worlds No. 1 sponsor of terror," but the damage was already done.
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Washington PostTikTok god Dave Jorgenson replied with another edited photo of Obama.
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Other Twitter users pointed out that Trump met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
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Bottom line: Don't forget to fact-check before retweeting, even (or maybe especially) if it's from a politician.
UPDATE: Jan. 6, 2020, 3:01 p.m. PST A previous version of this story incorrectly said Obama was shaking hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the original photo. The former president actually posed with Manmohan Singh, who served as India's prime minster from 2004 to 2014.
