Just Because It's Trending Doesn't Mean It's True

Trump: I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters

  • by: Maarten Schenk
  • (Sat, 23 Jan 2016 19:57:03 Z)

Donald Trump is so sure of the loyalty of his supporters, he said this in Sioux Center, Iowa today:

I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters.

Trump made the jocular remark while commenting on a poll that showed his supporters were exceptionally loyal compared to those of other candidates in the race. So it is unlikely Trump will actually go out and shoot someone to put the hypothesis to the test.

But what about losing voters by actually saying it out loud during a campaign rally? CNN's report of the quote shows early signs of going viral, wonder if "Teflon Don" will see his poll numbers rise or fall after this quote. What do you think? Let us know in the comments...

About the author:

Maarten Schenk is our resident expert on fake news and hoax websites. He likes to go beyond just debunking trending fake news stories and is endlessly fascinated by the dazzling variety of psychological and technical tricks used by the people and networks who intentionally spread made-up things on the internet.  He can often be found at conferences and events about fake news, disinformation and fact checking when he is not in his office in Belgium monitoring and tracking the latest fake article to go viral.

Read more about or contact Maarten Schenk