Donald Trump has apparently mistaken a parody Twitter account for one run by his own reclusive and secretive older sister and thanked it for supporting his baseless claims to have won the 2020 presidential election.
The president, who has previously misidentified other Twitter accounts, retweeted an article by conservative media figure Wayne Dupree, who had also assumed that the account, called @thebettytrump, actually belonged to Elizabeth Trump Grau.
“Thank you Elizabeth! LOVE!” Trump tweeted in response to Dupree’s article that heaped praise on @thebettytrump’s stance in issuing a long line of tweets praising Trump and his efforts to reverse the legitimate result of the election which has seen Joe Biden win resoundingly in both the popular vote and the electoral college.
The problem was that the account did not belong to Trump’s sister, who has kept a very low public profile during her brother’s tumultuous presidency.
Vice News managed to track down and interview Trump Grau and she told their reporter: “I don’t even belong to Twitter.”
She added for good measure: “I have no statement. I’m just annoyed about this whole thing.”
Absolute confirmation that the account was a hoax finally came from @thebettytrump itself, who, as the furore spread across social media, finally came clean and admitted its guilt in pulling a prank.
The statement said: “Would’ve clarified sooner that I was a parody but I certainly didn’t anticipate President Trump himself taking notice of the account. Don’t blame @WayneDupreeShow... it’s on me for not making that clear. Hope y’all will forgive me - feel bad for creating any confusion. LOVE!”
