Did Eric Trump, son of President Donald Trump, get into a fistfight with CNN anchor Jake Tapper? No, that's not true, the news was made up by a site that invents satirical fake news stories in order to get less intellectually gifted people (generally of right-wing persuasion) to share them without thinking or checking. Supporters and fans of the site then mock them for it. The story is not real, it did not happen.
The story originated from an article published by Daily World Update on June 11, 2018 titled "BREAKING: Eric Trump Got In A Fistfight With A CNN Anchor And Only One Of Them Went To Jail" (archived here) which opened:
Eric Trump was at CNN studios in New York last night for an interview when he was viciously attacked...by Jake Tapper. Tapper, one of CNN's most recognizable faces, asked the young Trump, "Does Daddy like anal? There will be plenty in the prison he's going to."
The remark sent Eric Trump into a bit of a rage, but he was able to keep hold of himself and stay in control. Later, in the parking lot, Tapper approached Eric, walked right through 4 Secret Service agents like he was the President himself and shoved Trump to the ground.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
BREAKING: Eric Trump Got In A Fistfight With A CNN Anchor And Only One Of Them Went To Jail
Not a mark on him.
The site comes with a clear satire disclaimer at the bottom of each article:
sat·ire ~ˈsaˌtī(ə)r
noun
the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, OR ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.
If you disagree with the definition of satire or have decided it is synonymous with "comedy," you should really just move along.
The owner and main writer of the site is self-professed liberal troll Christopher Blair, a man from Maine who has made it his full time job to troll gullible conservatives and Trump supporters into liking and sharing his articles. He runs several other websites, including potatriotpost.us, dailyworldupdate.us and nofakenewsonline.us. Sometimes he is also known under his nickname "Busta Troll". A second man working on the sites is John Prager as revealed in this earlier story we wrote.
Articles from Blair's sites frequently get copied by "real" fake news sites who often omit the satire disclaimer and any other hints the stories are fake. Blair has tried to get these sites shut down in the past but new ones keep cropping up and he keeps knocking them down.
If you see one of his stories on a site that does not contain a satire disclaimer, assume it is fake news. If you do see the satire disclaimer it is of course also fake news.
We wrote about americaslastlineofdefense.org before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:
