Baltimore Sun Reporter Quotes Trump Supporter Named ‘Jack Mehoff,’ Internet Spits Coffee

Tommy ChristopherApr 21st, 2016, 1:15 pm
 

To the delight of fifth-graders everywhere, The Baltimore Sun has set the internet on fire by publishing a report on a Donald Trump rally in Maryland that featured a quote from a Trump supporter with a, shall we say, extremely suspect moniker:

Jack Mehoff, 19, praised Trump as a “hardworking, smart individual that wants the best for all people in this country that are allowed to be here.”

In fairness to reporter Ian Duncan, hardly any of the names in his piece, from “Gabby Franks” to “Cassie Hibble,” sound any more real than Jack Mehoff, and he was, in fact, covering a candidate whose ex-wife’s name is Ivana.

Twitter users, needless to say, had a field day:

The best part is that the name and the quote remain in the story, because unless he can track down that supporter, as Duncan points out, there’s really nothing to correct:

Duncan, for his part, is taking the whole thing in stride:

As Erik Wemple points out, the tradition of treating reporters like substitute teachers taking roll cal is a long and storied one, but the prank doesn’t work on everyone. A few years ago, either a prankster or someone who really was named “Mike Hunt” tried to get then-White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to say his name aloud during an internet Q&A, but Gibbs was too sharp for him.

Update: Kudos to Ian Duncan, who was able to track the source down and get his real name, and correct the story:

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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