Donald Trump 'Sharpie Gate', Backlash Taking Over Twitter Amid Hurricane Dorian
After President Donald Trump showed a map of Hurricane Dorian’s projected path on Wednesday that [...]
Donald Trump Jr. speaking to a packed arena last Thursday.#SharpieGate pic.twitter.com/bpIkAUm2gr
— Travis Akers (@travisakers) September 5, 2019
Meteorologist Ryan Brenton was among the first of those who noticed Trump's alleged Sharpie-altered image, and he addressed it on Twitter.
"Can't let this go unnoticed. [Donald Trump] displayed a doctored version of the @NHC_Atlantic forecast for #Dorian," he explained. "The black extension past Florida did not exist; that's not how forecast cones are drawn."
prevnextGot Greenland! #sharpiegate pic.twitter.com/oLSZMcdrT0
— Magnus Hammar (@magnushammar) September 5, 2019
Just because you say it or sharpie it doesn’t make it true! #sharpiegate #LyingTrump https://t.co/kKr6itUlEZ
— jazanp (@JazanP) September 5, 2019
After he began to be criticized for his Alabama comment, and his "doctored" Dorian image, Trump defended himself by tweeting, "Alabama was going to be hit or grazed, and then Hurricane Dorian took a different path (up along the East Coast). The Fake News knows this very well. That's why they're the Fake News!"
"#sharpiegate #TrumpSharpie is why I LOVE twitter! Thank you fellow resisters for supplying the humor we need to get through these dark and surreal times," one user later joked.
prevnextLadies and gentlemen, I give you the very best of #Sharpiegate !! This sh*t had me wheezing! pic.twitter.com/IYsZU39aOQ
— Francis Maxwell (@francismmaxwell) September 5, 2019
(In my best shrink voice) Do you see the hurricane in this room with us right now?
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) September 5, 2019
"WHY DID YOU DRAW ON THE MAP WITH A SHARPIE," one user asked Trump in a tweet.
"All Sharpies in the WH have been secured and under Lock and Key," someone else joked.
prevnext“Now #Sharpiegate does not bother me
— Kai (@UnderAntares) September 5, 2019
Does your conscience bother you?
Tell the truth
Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue”
-Lynyrd Skynyrd
Here it is: Trump’s sharpie map and the actual map. pic.twitter.com/1sYT1XOy02
— Mia Farrow (@MiaFarrow) September 5, 2019
"God almighty," one Twitter user quipped. "He's really gonna die on this #FakeNews hill after using a map dated 8/28 to prove his 'Alabama update' FOUR DAYS LATER was correct?"
"Rex Tillerson was right," the Twitter user added, then including a hashtag referring to when Tillerson was quoted as calling Trump a "moron."
prevnextSays the guy who never heard of category 5 hurricanes. Every time there’s been one.
— Susan (@redwitch497) September 5, 2019
#sharpiegate pic.twitter.com/0pLFhci5wu
— Maescott (@e_maescott) September 5, 2019
"Remember just a few days ago Trump 'claimed' he had never heard of a cat 5 hurricane before," one other user wrote.
This was in reference to when the President stated, "I'm not sure that I've ever even heard of a Category 5," despite there having been at least four that impacted the U.S. during his presidency.
prevnextBecause why back down when you made a silly mistake in a tweet? Just double down, falsify a map and put it on telly in an official briefing, then claim you don’t know who drew on it with a marker pen to corroborate the thing you said by accident. #sharpiegate @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/6CT47sfDGx
— Peter Crome (@petecrome) September 5, 2019
I don't always write with a pen, but when i draw, it's with a 'Sharpie'
— Peter Chan (@petersabuchan1) September 5, 2019
- Donald J Trump#sharpiegate https://t.co/cwPQGdY533
One person who tweeted directly to Trump wrote, "You tweeted out a warning to the people of Alabama using bad information. Information based on data that was at least 4 days old."
"Then you lied about it. Then you went a step further and lied about the lie," they added.
prevnextReally. Can you draw it out on a graph for us?? #sharpiegate
— CaBiBi🌊🇺🇸🌊🇮🇹 (@mingia66) September 5, 2019
We wanted to get in on the #sharpiegate action.
Did we do this right?
Maybe we're overly excited for #Oktoberfest2019 🤔 pic.twitter.com/2mA5Tt5wme
— HMP Oktoberfest (@OktoberfestHMPF) September 5, 2019
"This isn't the worst thing Trump's ever lied about," someone offered, adding, "But it's becoming the most pathetic."
"Exactly! And the more he insists the more pathetic it gets. Luckily it's hilarious at least," another user replied.
prevnextDear geezus, STOP!
— Therese O'Connell🌊🆘🍀 (@OconnellTherese) September 5, 2019
Looking good there, Donny. #sharpiegate #SharpiePresident pic.twitter.com/ga7UDwLwcj
Is this how your inauguration really looked? SO many people? pic.twitter.com/Ot7Wk6UYbZ
— Michelle Wright (@Mickeygw1) September 5, 2019
"If this was even remotely true you wouldn't have tried the sharpie ruse in your effort to save face," another Twitter user commented on Trump's post.
"The NWS has already said you made this up," the user continued, then asking, "Why keep on lying about it?"
prevnextDONALD TRUMP 'TOTALLY SERIOUS' ABOUT HIS FACE ON MOUNT RUSHMORE, SOUTH DAKOTA REPUBLICAN SAYS. #TrumpSharpie pic.twitter.com/g9J7WmyCBP
— FORTIS (@fortismind) September 5, 2019
I think I've identified the owner of the suspected Sharpie! Hey-ohhhhh!#Sharpiegate #TrumpSharpie pic.twitter.com/6KQR8dKIk5
— Suléma Marie (@sulemamarie) September 5, 2019
While many have criticized the president, and others have made hilarious jokes, there are some that have pointed out that "It is a violation of federal law to falsify a National Weather Service forecast and pass it off as official."
According to Cornell Law School, the law states, "Whoever knowingly issues or publishes any counterfeit weather forecast or warning of weather conditions falsely representing such forecast or warning to have been issued or published by the Weather Bureau, United States Signal Service, or other branch of the Government service, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ninety days, or both."
At this time, there is no word on whether or not the proper authorities may consider Trump to be in violation of this law.
prevBased on weather forecasts from the White House, I'm going to go buy sandbags & plywood after work.
Because there's a hurricane coming.#Alabama #GotMilk #GotBread #GotSharpies #sharpiegate #Dorian2019 #Dorian
— Michael Burns (@BMikemic) September 5, 2019