A screenshot of what appears to be a combative tweet by President Donald Trump about former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick being added to EA Sports’ Madden 21 NFL video game is going around Facebook.
Except, it isn’t real.
The fabricated tweet says, “Hey @EASPORTS, I hear Kaepernick is available as a free agent in Madden 21. I’m also a free agent, so why not add me? I’m equally worthless as a NFL player as Kaepernick.”
The screenshot also adds in a reply from Kaepernick that reads: “Why not elect me President? I’m as equally worthless as a President as you.”
The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
Kaepernick, who led the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl after the 2012 season, will be included as a free agent in Madden 21, EA Sports announced, marking his first appearance in the video game since 2016, when he started sitting or kneeling during the pregame national anthem to protest systemic oppression against Black people.
But this Trump-Kaepernick interaction never took place. Both of their Twitter profiles show that neither posted the tweets on Sept. 8, and the post isn’t among archives of Trump’s deleted tweets.
The post was created by @SavageSportsMMZ, a satirical sports social media account whose watermark can be seen in the background of the post.
The fake tweet was then reposted on a Facebook page called NFL memes and has been shared thousands of times since. The page says it posts parody NFL-related memes, but many users didn’t seem to know that and criticized Trump and Kaepernick in the post’s comments.
We rate this Pants on Fire!
Truth-o-meter Ruling
IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT
- The tweet is fake. It was fabricated by a satirical sports account.
Statement
Context
a Facebook postSpeaker/Target
Statement Date
Our Sources
Facebook post, Sept. 8, 2020
Twitter, Donald Trump twitter, accessed Sept. 10, 2020
Twitter, Colin Kaepernick twitter, accessed Sept. 10, 2020
ProPublica.org, PolitWoops Deleted Tweets From Donald J. Trump, accessed Sept. 10, 2020
EA Sports, GRIDIRON NOTES: WELCOME BACK, KAP!, Sept. 8, 2020
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