False Endorsements Shared by Trump
President Donald Trump, despite having numerous high-profile supporters, recently shared a false endorsement. On a Sunday evening, Trump’s Truth Social account posted a screenshot from an X account named Red Eagle Updates. This post wrongly quoted Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington, stating, “I’ve worked with a lot of people in my life, and I’ve never met anyone braver, smarter, or who cares more about America than Donald Trump. He’s a great friend and an even better president. I’m proud to be a steadfast supporter, and I’ll never apologize for it. God Bless America and our president.” This quote had already been disproven, highlighting a continuous trend of fabricated political statements wrongly linked to Washington.
Did Washington Support Trump?
The day after the post on Truth Social, Snopes published a fact check debunking the claim. On October 10, Snopes confirmed there was no credible source showing Washington praised Trump, whether with those exact words or different ones.
Federal Election Commission records show Washington has previously donated to Democratic candidates. He contributed $28,500 to former President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and $27,000 to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, when she ran against Trump.
Trump’s account had previously attributed similar quotes to actor Matthew McConaughey and Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger. No evidence supports these claims, either. Newsweek contacted Washington’s representatives at PMK Entertainment and the White House for comment.
Shortly before Trump’s account shared the false Washington quote, another post was shared from conservative commentator Nick Sortor. Sortor praised Trump’s energy during a speech, questioning claims that Trump was struggling.
Past False Quotes
This isn’t the first time Washington was incorrectly linked to endorsement claims. Back in 2016, fabricated reports claimed Washington had supported Trump and criticized Obama. The story gained significant traction before being debunked by Washington’s publicist, Alan Nierob, who labeled it as “100 percent complete fabrication.” In 2018, fact-checkers debunked another false claim that Washington referred to Obama as the “criminal-in-chief.”
Washington was again falsely cited in claims about denouncing the Democratic Party. His publicist reiterated the falsehood of such claims without confirming Washington’s political leanings.
Further false claims this year suggested Washington had abandoned the Democratic Party and praised Trump. Fact checks have consistently refuted these assertions.
In August 2024, Trump’s Truth Social account shared another untruthful post about an endorsement from Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase. The bank quickly denied the claim with Dimon reiterating he had not endorsed any candidate. Trump later told NBC News that someone else posted it without his knowledge.
This incident occurred close to when Trump’s account shared AI-generated content that falsely suggested support from Taylor Swift’s fans. By September, Swift endorsed former Vice President Kamala Harris, citing these false posts as part of her reason for going public with her support.