President Donald Trump shared a fabricated quote attributed to actor Denzel Washington that described Trump as a “great friend” and “an even better president,” despite the claim having been debunked by fact-checkers before Trump posted it.
Trump shared a screenshot of the fabricated endorsement on Truth Social on Monday (October 12). According to PEOPLE, the screenshot originated from Red Eagle Updates, a pro-Trump political commentary account on X that posted the quote on Saturday (October 10).
The fabricated quote claimed Washington said, “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.”
It continued, “I’m proud to be a steadfast supporter, and I’ll never apologize for it.”
The account asked followers whether they agreed with Washington, prompting them to answer “YES or NO?”
The fact-checking website Snopes debunked the quote on Saturday and reported that the quote had been circulating online “for at least several months.”
The website emphasized it found no evidence that Washington had made the statement.
Snopes also found that the same quote had been falsely attributed to actor Matthew McConaughey and musician Mick Jagger.
Washington’s representative, Alan Nierob, also confirmed the quote was false in a statement to The Washington Post.
“Not real,” Nierob told the newspaper. He also said he had “no idea where it came from” and could not confirm whether Washington and Trump had ever met, according to PEOPLE.
Federal Election Commission records show Washington previously donated to Democratic presidential campaigns, Newsweek reported. The actor contributed $28,500 to former President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and $27,000 to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, when she ran against Trump.
According to The Washington Post, more than 3,000 Truth Social users had reshared Trump’s post by Monday afternoon.
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