Trump Posts Fake Clip of Anderson Cooper Declaring Trump Ripped ‘Us a New Asshole Here at CNN’

Former President Donald Trump returned to his pre-Twitter ban ways of posting anti-CNN memes Friday morning, with a fake clip mocking the network posted on Truth Social.

Trump is taking a self-promotional victory lap over the network that hosted him for a town hall event at Saint Anselm’s College in New Hampshire Wednesday evening. The event has spurred criticism for platforming Trump’s consistent lies and attacks on his sexual abuse victim, E. Jean Carroll, which were met with hoots and laughter from a largely supportive audience.

The exact provenance of the video Trump posted is not yet clear, but it was uploaded by a YouTube user, “Borg Clone,” on Thursday, and it shows the CNN anchor in a mortise next to Trump as the town hall concluded. The clearly fake video shows Anderson Cooper saying, “That was President Donald Trump ripping us a new asshole here at CNN’s live presidential town hall.”

Of course, this isn’t real. Cooper did not say that; artificial intelligence likely has altered or recreated his voice. And while it’s intended as a “joke, ” some Trump followers will undoubtedly not see the joke and fall for the fake clip because…well, you do the math.

But is this normal presidential behavior? Literally sharing misinformation about a cable news outlet that JUST hosted him and treated him reasonably fairly, despite the fountain of bullshittery that emerged from his pie hole? It is if you adjudge presidential behavior by the 45th president and none other.

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