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White House Promotes Fake News Article Praising Trump Budget

GREAT JOB!

Official email blast included a fake article that actually mocked the Trump proposal.

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Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

On Friday, the White House blasted out an email that included headlines from and links to favorable news articles—it’s just that one of those links was to a satirical comedy piece written by Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri that mocks President Donald Trump’s new budget blueprint.

Petri’s “analysis,” titled, “Trump’s budget makes perfect sense and will fix America, and I will tell you why,” includes such lines as “AMERICA WILL BE STRONGER THAN IT HAS EVER BEEN! Anyone who survives will be a gun covered in the fur of a rare mammal, capable of fighting disease with a single muscular flex. RAW POWER! HARD RAW POWER GRRRRRR HISSS POW!”

It’s a small act of the Trump administration owning itself online that Petri finds wonderful.

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"I am honored to finally be real, true news, which is all I've ever striven for," Petri told The Daily Beast on Friday afternoon, gently mocking Trump’s “fake news” talking point. Petri said she had not been signed up for the White House’s “1600 Daily” newsletter emails but is now, “now that I know it uses reliable sources.”

“It goes to show that as long as you confirm what the Trump White House wants to believe, you too can be cited in an email—and you can even work for the mainstream media and do it!”

Petri concluded by noting that she “can't stop laughing.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment; we’ll update if that changes.

Asawin Suebsaeng

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