A frequent staple of conservative social media in recent years has been a fake quote from a famous actor, either expressing support for Donald Trump or endorsing right-wing political causes. Popular actors for such fake quotes include Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington.
This week, the president fell for one such quote from the latter actor.
According to The Daily Beast, Trump on Truth Social shared a “quote” from Washington, in which the actor supposedly stated that “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.”
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The quote is not real; Washington has never said anything like that, or endorsed Trump at any point. Washington is not known for frequently speaking up about politics, although he did donate to Hillary Clinton’s campaign against Trump in 2016, and to President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign before that. Washington accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden.
Citing Snopes, The Daily Beast noted that the same quote “has previously been attributed to other A-listers like Matthew McConaughey and Mick Jagger,” none of whom ever said anything like that, either.
Back in 2021, Factcheck.org reported, another bogus claim about Washington had gone went viral, at that point claiming that “Denzel Washington, who has never stepped outside the realm of acting to engage in politics, has taken a stand. It won’t be very popular with Democrats. In an Interview with America’s Last Line of Defense, Denzel said that he couldn’t handle the constant lies and that he’s turning his attention to helping team Trump.” A representative of the actor told the site, at the time, that “without confirming his political affiliation, this post is a complete fabrication.”
America’s Last Line of Defense is a “satire” website that merely publishes things that aren’t true, and often go viral.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
