Fact check: Trump posts fake quote of Denzel Washington supposedly praising him

(CNN) — President Donald Trump has shared another fake quote on social media, this time a fabricated comment in which “Denzel Washington” supposedly heaps praise upon him.

The phony quote that Trump’s Monday post wrongly attributed to the legendary actor has previously been wrongly attributed to fellow celebrities Mick Jagger and Matthew McConaughey, the fact-checking website Snopes reported.

Fictitious claims about Washington publicly declaring himself a Trump supporter have circulated online for years. Washington has generally kept a low political profile, but federal records show he made donations to support Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama in 2008 and Hillary Clinton, who ran against Trump, in 2016.

Trump has long used his social media accounts to both make his own false claims and amplify false claims from others, including conspiracy theories and imaginary quotes. In 2019, he shared a glowing but fake quote about himself that an obscure account had wrongly attributed to former President Ronald Reagan. This spring, he shared a fake quote attacking Obama that a pro-Trump commentator had wrongly attributed to Republican Sen. John Kennedy.

Trump posted the fake praise wrongly attributed to Washington on Monday morning. The president’s post, on his Truth Social platform, was an image of a Saturday post made by a pro-Trump X account called “Red Eagle Updates.”

That post said “BOOM,” and then quoted Washington as supposedly saying this: “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.”

Media outlets including MeidasTouch and Mediaite noted Monday morning that the supposed quote was fake. Alan Nierob, a representative for Washington, confirmed to The Washington Post that the quote was “not real” and said he had “no idea where it came from.”

The-CNN-Wire
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