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This screengrab shows a frame from an April 25, 2019 interview Fox News host Sean Hannity conducted with President Donald Trump, who joined by phone. A viral Facebook post manipulated this image and credited a false statement to Trump.
A post recently shared on Facebook claims that President Donald Trump went "ballistic" in a phone interview with the morning news show Fox and Friends.
The post displays a photo of Trump, along with his supposed statement taken to look like a screenshot of a Fox News broadcast:
"The Democrats can subpoena me and my administration for the next 10, 15, 20 years and we will never capitulate. They need to face the fact that I am in charge, this is my country and I will do as I please, they have no control over me. The people support me and will always support me."
There’s a convincing-looking chyron underneath the quote that reads: "President Trump goes ballistic on Fox and Friends."
But it didn’t really happen. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The screenshot is photoshopped. We did not find an instance of Trump making such a statement in our search of news archives.
The graphics for the Fox screengrab come from an April 25, 2019, phone interview that Trump gave to Fox News host Sean Hannity when he was talking about the 2016 Democratic National Committee server hack. The video lines up with the Facebook post’s image a little after the 10-minute mark with the real Fox caption saying, "Trump: I want to see what was on the DNC server."
The Facebook post’s "Trump goes ballistic" line in the chyron also doesn’t match the font used by Fox News Channel.
A Fox News spokesperson confirmed to PolitiFact that the post’s image was doctored.
We rate this Pants on Fire!
Facebook post, Sept. 15, 2019
Washington Post, How the Russians hacked the DNC and passed its emails to WikiLeaks, July 13, 2018
YouTube, ‘Hannity’ Exclusive: Trump says tables have turned in Russia probe, April 25, 2019
Snopes, Did President Trump ‘Go Ballistic’ on ‘Fox and Friends’?, May 21, 2019
Check Your Fact, ‘THIS IS MY COUNTRY, AND I WILL DO AS I PLEASE’ – DID TRUMP GO ‘BALLISTIC’ ON FOX NEWS?, May, 27, 2019
Email interview, Caley Cronin spokesperson at Fox News, Sept. 19, 2019
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