There has been a lot of tension in Washington DC lately. A Navy yard shooting, a government shutdown, a woman trying to ram the gates to the Capitol and a man setting himself on fire are all tragedies that have occurred in Washington DC over the last few weeks. With so many negative things taking place, it’s nice to see something funny come out of Washington.
After news about a group of WWII veteran who had to cross government tape to access the WWII memorial hit headlines, a parody site saw a chance for some fun. They created a fake news story and hoped that someone would believe it. The fake story states that although so many national parks and monuments are closed during the shutdown, Obama would be paying money out of his own pocket to keep the International Museum of Muslim Cultures open.
Their prank went further than they expected when Fox News host Anna Kooiman read the story on Fox News, thinking it was real. The fake story can be found on the National Report website.
“The Republican National Committee is offering to pay for it to keep it open so that the veterans from Honor Flight are going to be able to go and see this because who did it honor? It honored them,” Kooiman said during a report on Friday. “It really doesn’t seem fair, especially, and we’re going to talk a little bit later in the show too about some things that are continuing to be funded. And President Obama has offered to pay out of his own pocket for the museum of Muslim culture out of his own pocket, yet it’s the Republican National Committee who’s paying for this.”
Fox News Falls for Fake Obama Story. LMAO their source is satire. http://t.co/eUeVY3G9IY #UniteBlue #StopRush
— Zach man (@Zachman12) October 6, 2013
Fox News falls for a satirical story about Obama personally funding a Muslim museum: http://t.co/bDbvdi4ZRW CAN'T IMAGINE WHY
— John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) October 5, 2013
2/2 When's the last time Fox fell for something equally embarrassing cutting agst GOP? #murdochsworld http://t.co/YmtyzcXswX via @gawker
— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) October 5, 2013
Watch Fox 'News' Report Fake Story About Obama Personally Funding Muslim Museum | Americans Against the Tea Party http://t.co/CCj4s0TpbN
— Doc Hamrick (@mch7576) October 6, 2013
The National Report creates fake news stories often but most people know they are fake as soon as they read the headlines. There were once disclaimers on the website as well, but they have since been removed. With all the excitement and strange news coming out of Washington, it’s easy to see how Kooiman could think the report was real. News reporters often race to be the first to air a story and they don’t always get the chance to confirm it first.
Image from Wikimedia Commons.