Donald Trump claimed that actor Denzel Washington was one of his most staunch supporters in a social media post on Monday … only to get publicly fact-checked.
Trump shared a social media post from the X account “Red Eagle Updates” that alleged that the Oscar winner had nothing but praise for the president, and even considered him a “great friend.”
“BOOM: Denzel Washington: ‘I’ve worked with a lot of people in my life, and I’ve never met anyone braver, smarter, or who cares more about America than Donald Trump. He’s a great friend and an even better president. I’m proud to be a steadfast supporter and I’ll never apologize for it,’” the original post read.
The post then asked social media users if they agreed with Washington’s so-called words.
The fact-checking website Snopes revealed that Trump’s repost is 100% false, noting that it had “found no reporting that Washington spoke favourably of Trump” on major news outlets like ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News or others.
The website added, “If any actor of Washington’s prominence who had never publicly expressed such support in the past were to say the words attributed to them in the meme, national and international outlets covering entertainment and politics would have widely reported it.”
HuffPost has reached out to the White House and Washington’s representatives for comment.
The rumour-debunking site said that the same phoney quote from Washington had also been previously attributed to actor Matthew McConaughey and Rolling Stones’ lead singer, Mick Jagger, in memes across social media.
Snopes also fact-checked erroneous reporting from 2018 that claimed that Washington said that electing Trump saved the US from becoming an “Orwellian police state.”
Washington has generally abstained from aligning with political parties, and has criticised both the left and the right.
Speaking with the UK’s The Times in November 2024, Washington urged the public to realise they’re “being manipulated by both sides.”
