On Wednesday afternoon, several prominent left-wing personalities were duped into sharing fake text messages allegedly sent to President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
College student Nick Roberts, vice president of the College Democrats of Indiana, tweeted what he claimed were text messages he had sent to Giuliani while posing as Ivanka Trump. Roberts allegedly asked Giuliani if “the rumor that is circulating [is] true?” an apparent reference to the apparently false reports that Giuliani behaved inappropriately after an interview with comedian Sacha Baron Cohen performing as his “Borat” character.
Giuliani allegedly responded to the college student by saying: “There is some truth to the story, I am waiting to speak with your father about it.”
Politico Magazine contributing editor David Freedlander quote-tweeted Roberts’ screenshots, writing: “Rudy seems to have learned his lesson, is tightening protocols, checking ID’s, and is now being taken in by someone claiming to be Ivanka Trump but who is in fact the vice president of the College Democrats of Indiana.”
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow quote-tweeted Freedlander’s tweet and wrote, “I can’t even.” Another MSNBC employee, reporter Stephanie Ruhle, also fell for the fake texts, tweeting “I can’t…” while sharing Freedlander’s tweet. Voice of America reporter Steve Herman also shared Roberts’ tweet with the caption, “The VP of @CollegeDemsIN tweets he has exchanged text messages with @RudyGiuliani today by claiming to be @IvankaTrump.”
Roberts, however, confirmed to Mediaite’s Zachary Petrizzo that the text messages were fake.
“It is satire,” Roberts told the outlet, adding “It’s a conversation I had with my brother.”
“Most people have caught onto it being a joke, but then the national people picked it up,” Roberts also told Mediaite.
“I’ve always thought of my [Twitter] page as a satire page somewhat,” the college student added.
Media outlets on Wednesday rushed to report a scene from the upcoming “Borat” film allegedly showing Giuliani, in a hotel room, with his hand down his pants in a sexual way after speaking with a young female “reporter.” Ben Dreyfuss, editorial director at Mother Jones and no fan of President Donald Trump or Giuliani, stood alone defending the former mayor of New York City.
“I have now seen the scene with Rudy Giuliani and though it is creepy for other reasons it is being described on twitter in a false way. He does not have his hand down his pants in a sexual way. He is tucking his shirt back in after she untucks it removing his mic,” Dreyfuss tweeted.
Giuliani himself posted on Twitter that the video “is a complete fabrication.”
“I was tucking in my shirt after taking off the recording equipment,” Giuliani tweeted. “At no time before, during, or after the interview was I ever inappropriate. If Sacha Baron Cohen implies otherwise he is a stone-cold liar.”
“In fact, the NY Post today reports ‘it looks to me like an exaggeration through editing,’” Giuliani continued. “As soon as I realized it was a set up I called the police, which has been noted in [The Hollywood Reporter] article on July 8th.”