Did actor and writer Gene Hackman say Donald Trump could easily turn out to be one of the best presidents America has ever seen? No, that's not true: the fake quote has been pushed several times by several sites that are part of the same network of Macedonian fake news websites but it is misattributed. Hackman didn't say it.
The quote recently went viral again through an article published on November 30, 2018 titled "HOLLYWOOD LEGEND GENE HACKMAN: 'DONALD TRUMP COULD EASILY TURN OUT TO BE ONE OF THE BEST PRESIDENTS THAT AMERICA HAS EVER SEEN. - coolinfo24.com" (archived here) which opened:
It seems like Donald Trump has a real back up.
Not long ago Gene Hackman, while being interviewed stated something truly important about our leader.
He initially described how he met the current president of the United States:
Well I have met Donald Trump back in the 80's, he was a guest at my party in New York."
"We discussed and he really seemed like a decent guy, in fact i liked him."
He also added that when he heard Donald Trump is going to be the Republican candidate for the election he was truly shocked.
(Note, we added the first "I" that was missing since the operators of the site probably sloppily copy pasted it from earlier versions)
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
HOLLYWOOD LEGEND GENE HACKMAN: 'DONALD TRUMP COULD EASILY TURN OUT TO BE ONE OF THE BEST PRESIDENTS THAT AMERICA HAS EVER SEEN. - coolinfo24.com
t seems like Donald Trump has a real back up. Not long ago Gene Hackman, while being interviewed stated something truly important about our leader. He initially described how he met the current president of the United States: Well I have met Donald Trump back in the 80's, ...
However the quote in question was not spoken by Gene Hackman but by now deceased club tycoon Peter Stringfellow, as can be seen in this article:
The day Sheffield club king Peter Stringfellow met US president Donald Trump
As tributes pour in for Sheffield club king Peter Stringfellow, the legendary lothario once rubbed shoulders with US president Donald Trump. While the president has yet to pay tribute on Twitter, details of a meeting between the two back in the 80s have emerged.
The website of Stringfellows has more details:
Donald Trump, Peter and Gene Hackman - Stringfellows London
Yes - I have met Donald Trump - back in the 80s, Gene Hackman threw a party at my club in New York, and Donald was a guest. So what do I think about Trump? It is possible he could turn out to the be one the best presidents that America has ever seen...
In other words, Stringfellows met Trump at a party thrown by Hackman and then gave his opinion on Trump.
The quote was ripped out of context, misunderstood or deliberately altered by someone and then it ended up being endlessly recycled by a network of Macedonian fake news websites.
(image: Buzzsumo.com)
You can read all about the network here in this recent article we published:
Old Network of Anti-Islam Fake News Websites Turns To Twitter Trolling | Lead Stories
Tara, Jesica, Ana, Lora: since a few weeks dozens of trolls on Twitter are dangling bait in front of American Trump supporters. Their goal: bring in as many clicks as possible for two commercial, (potentially Serbian) anti-islam websites. And it is working: in twelve days they reached a potential audience on Facebook of 3.8 milion users.
We wrote about coolinfo24.com before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:
