The case of Donald Trump being tricked into retweeting an image of serial killers Fred and Rosemary West is a lesson in the perils of social media
‘The Donald’ is not one to mince his words and on Twitter he’s renowned for being forthright in the opinions he shares. Donald Trump, however, fell for trolls on Monday when he retweeted an image and this, indeed, is a lesson in the perils of social media.
Trump – who has 2.7 million followers on Twitter – was sent the following:
“@feckhead My parents who passed away always said you were big inspiration. Can you pls RT for their memory?”
Duly and without realising whose image he was sharing, the property tycoon did as requested and retweeted an image of British serial killers Fred and Rosemary West to the world.
After receiving messages highlighting what he’d actually shared, this wannabe Presidential candidate removed the tweet promptly and said he was “sad[dened]” by the dupe, but the damage was done.
In The Talented Mr Ripley, the detective appointed to discover what happened to Dickie Greenleaf states: “In America we’re taught to check a fact before it becomes a fact”. Donald Trump would do well to heed such advice.
Subscribe to our free once daily email newsletter here: