Multiple pundits tricked into believing Trump spends all day watching gorilla news channel
(Credit: Twitter/pixelatedboat)
With all the inconceivable Trump administration’s absurdities revealed by Michael Wolff’s White House just-released exposé “Fire & Fury,” it is infuriating, yet almost understandable, that a fictitious passage about Donald Trump watching “the Gorilla Channel” was believed by some to be true.
Beloved Twitter comedian @Pixelatedboat tweeted a Photoshopped passage — purported to be from Wolff’s book “Fire & Fury” — that said that President Trump was upset that the television in his bedroom didn’t carry a “gorilla channel.” In an effort to placate Trump, the White House staff compiled a bunch of documentaries and created an improvised one, the joke passage explained.
Wow, this extract from Wolff’s book is a shocking insight into Trump’s mind: pic.twitter.com/1ZecclggSa
— the gorilla channel thing is a joke (@pixelatedboat) January 5, 2018
The tweet went viral, leading some prominent figures in the Twitterverse—including Farhad Manjoo of the New York Times— to express confusion over its legitimacy.
I’m sorry I have a question
Is the gorilla channel thing real or fake?
I thought it was clearly fake but people are talking as if it’s real and I don’t know who’s mistaken.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about don’t look it up because it might be fake.
— Farhad Manjoo (feat. Drake) (@fmanjoo) January 5, 2018
This is my favorite part of Wolff's book so far. Amazing for what it says about this administration! (It's worse than you think!!). So amazing, I can barely even believe it. It's *literally* incredible@Pixelatedboat caught it first (he's a quicker reader than I). Reproducing: pic.twitter.com/qtOaNDxnx2
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) January 5, 2018
https://twitter.com/samanthamaiden/st...
I did not realize it was a joke until I read the comments!! We're so far down the rabbit hole, this seemed completely believable. What's happening to us????
— Christy (@cameobraid) January 5, 2018
For some, there was a disappointment when they found out it wasn’t—and that a Gorilla channel doesn’t really exist.
https://twitter.com/ericgarland/statu...
Americans want the gorilla channel
— Manimal (@Gormanimal2000) January 5, 2018
Cable channel Animal Planet played off the joke themselves.
What makes for a Gorilla Channel? A lot of eating, sleeping, and, of course, playtime! pic.twitter.com/cnXOSSY07z
— AnimalPlanet (@AnimalPlanet) January 5, 2018
With some of these tweets from journalists, it is hard to tell whether they were joking about their gullibility. Whatever the case, PixelatedBoat’s tweet revealed a disturbing trend — namely, that truth has become highly subjective and distorted, such that even obvious parodies can easily pass as real.
While the Gorilla Channel prank is hilarious, it’s also alarming and showcases a bigger contemporary problem: people believe what they want to believe. As Washington Post writer Molly Roberts said, “the same inclination [a]llowed Russian propaganda to spread like a virus through social media leading up to the election.” “There’s a volatile chemistry between a president who stirs disbelief each day and critics ready to suspend their own,” Roberts mused.
On a lighter note, it’s clear that many Americans desperately want a Gorilla Channel — and lucky for those who’d like to see it, Vice News went ahead and created one here.
Meanwhile, @Pixelatedboat has since changed their Twitter account name to “the gorilla channel thing is a joke.”
