The woman Donald Trump mistakenly tweeted at in an attempt to chastise UK Prime Minister Theresa May wants an apology.
“It’s amazing to think that the world's most powerful man managed to press the wrong button,” Theresa Scrivener, whose middle name is May, told the BBC. “I'm just waiting for a call from the White House with an apology”.
The President’s decision to share far-right tweets purporting to show Muslims committing acts of violence drew censure worldwide, including from the British Prime Minister. She said Mr Trump was “wrong” to have shared the content and that the group from which it originated, Britain First, was a “hateful organisation” that “seeks to spread mistrust and division”.
Mr Trump responded by lashing out, saying in a tweet “don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom”.
One problem: he tweeted at the wrong account. Rather than address his critique to the prime minister’s official @theresa_may account, which has around 430,000 followers, he blasted a Bognor woman whose locked @TheresaMay account had a small handful of followers.
“He needs to think before he tweets,” Ms Scrivener told the BBC, sounding bewildered by how Mr Trump could mistake her for Ms May.
“She runs the country, I'm a mum from Bognor,” she said.
The White House has responded to criticisms of Mr Trump sharing bigoted material by saying he was highlighting security threats. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the President sought to “elevate the conversation” around terrorism.
“The president feels that bringing up important issues of our time like extreme violence and terrorism are important things to do,” Ms Sanders told reporters. “That is what he did in that process and he will continue to do that in a number of venues, whether it's through speeches or Twitter or other social media platforms.”
