Fake News: Top 4 Fake Harvey Photos People Totally Believed
The rumor weed is growing quickly as it's watered by Houston floods (see WATCH: Harvey Survivor Unloads on Opportunistic CNN Reporter and CNN Anchors Laud CNN Crew for Helping Harvey Victims in an EMBARRASSING Display of Self-Congratulation…) Social media is full of fake news. And even more full of gullible people (and institutions) who believe it. Claims as wild as sharks swimming down the interstate to Obama actually caring.
1. Obama Serving Flood
"This Obama photo, doing the rounds after Harvey, is actually from 2015" https://t.co/SrTUMYaOkl #HurricaneHarvey https://t.co/PLjO8EKQUK— Larry Elder (@Larry Elder) 1503982181.0
Some observational Twitter users shared one definitive way to call out this lie: why would anyone in Texas wear a sweater in August?
@larryelder HA! Ain't nobody in Texas wearing a sweater right now.— GMC 06 (@GMC 06) 1504006288.0
@larryelder @K1erry And the people being served seem to be extremely stressed and overwhelmed 🙄— Joel Barros (@Joel Barros) 1504017572.0
As Larry Elder called it, the Obama photo op was from 2015 Thanksgiving. Not even close, but thanks for playing dummies.
2. Shark on the Freeway
And this photo? Total bull shark.
Believe it or not, this is a shark on the freeway in Houston, Texas. #HurricaneHarvy https://t.co/ANkEiEQ3Y6— Jason Michael (@Jason Michael) 1503900034.0
The photo's creator explained the motivation behind this enormously successful hoax. Trolling the news. Alas, some of the duped were none too pleased.
When America is this easy to troll with #FakeNews we should all be worried. https://t.co/3Iqp9UGql9— Jason Michael (@Jason Michael) 1503955266.0
@Jeggit When reality is absurd, common sense and normality no longer work as filters. Can't blame people for not kn… https://t.co/TAteKggZ8G— Reut Amit (@Reut Amit) 1503958589.0
3. Katie Couric's Gator
Our favorite blonde journalist, who lives up to the stereotype, shared a fake photo she claimed was from a friend's neighborhood.
Look who wandered into my friend's Houston 'hood Thinking about everyone affected by Harvey and 🙏🏻 they r safe https://t.co/BTuGLACiqg— Katie Couric (@Katie Couric) 1503865133.0
Turns out, not even close.
@MMcCainTCU @katiecouric Drives me absolutely nuts when people, *especially journalists*, don't take the less than… https://t.co/rnD4T6Phcp— ί ϖεαɾ ԹմɾԹʆε & ɕσηյմɾε ʍίδηίɡհϯ ʍαɾɡαɾίϯας (@ί ϖεαɾ ԹմɾԹʆε & ɕσηյմɾε ʍίδηίɡհϯ ʍαɾɡαɾίϯας) 1503865979.0
The photo was actually from Fort Bend flooding back in April.
@katiecouric This reveals your "journalistic" chops. Not your friend. Not a current photo. Please stop.— Judy Bowman (@Judy Bowman) 1503927271.0
4. Water-Logged Airliners
To finish with a bang, a doctored photo of "Houston's airport."
The flying boats of Houston Airport. Houston, we got problems https://t.co/tM31OE2ieI— Finnigans 天有道地有道人无道 (@Finnigans 天有道地有道人无道) 1503911690.0
Notice the likes and retweets. Sure, plenty of them are for "LOL, look at this gullible moron!" but some are legit believers.
@traineyjr @Thefinnigans Thx for the clarification. I can't imagine @Delta would leave all these planes there w/o f… https://t.co/K1w73FFz9d— Ray (@Ray) 1503939221.0
Makes sense. Airplanes aren't monuments of Abe Lincoln.
@Thefinnigans @stevens_phil lol someone’s put quite a bit of effort into that one— Fraser Rolfe (@Fraser Rolfe) 1503957052.0
What did we miss? Leave your favorite fake news image or story in the comments!
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