An image of President Donald Trump that has been photoshopped to make him appear larger than he is has gone viral, with many Twitter users sharing the image as if it were accurate.
"I don’t think William Barr resigned...I think @realDonaldTrump ate him guys," tweeted one person, in a tweet that's been shared more than 800 times.
The original photo was taken June 28 by AFP/Getty photographer Nicholas Kamm. As you can see in a side-by-side comparison, in the viral image, Trump's appearance has been altered to make his stomach and neck larger.
This isn't the first time that photoshopped images of Trump have gone viral as if they were real.
In fact, throughout the four years of his presidency, there have been a number of controversies concerning widely shared images of him that were later proven to be photoshopped.
i've been seeing this pic (on the left) everywhere in the last few days. it is, of course, fake and has been pretty extensively photoshopped (and flipped horizontal). the real one (right) was taken by @evanvucci for the AP on Oct. 10 2019
In February, Trump himself responded to another widely mocked photo of himself, calling the image "fake news." (The photographer told BuzzFeed News that the image was accurate.)
As the image of so-called fat Trump began to spread, people on Twitter began to call out those sharing the image for spreading misinformation.
"I hate this motherfucker more than anything, but this is a photoshop (above) of a real photo from June (below) and you forfeit your right to complain about disinformation if you can’t be bothered not to spread it," writer and comedian Daniel Kibblesmith wrote in a tweet comparing the original and doctored photos.
However, even before the image was debunked, people started calling out those sharing the image for body-shaming under the guise of criticizing Trump.
trump: *is evil and does evil things* everyone: look how FAT he is
"Goddammit. I hate this shit because now I gotta defend trump. There are a million reasons #TrumpIsNotWell, but we’re gonna rag on him for being fat?" one person tweeted. "Your fat friends, family, coworkers see this & it doesn’t make them feel great. Let’s stick to the ACTUAL reasons why Trump sux."
Wow look yet another thread of shitty fatphobic liberals to block, I love this every day occurrence https://t.co/Mf5D4hpAsS
"It doesn't matter that he mocks other people or that he lies about his weight," Hollowell added. "This isn't the GOTCHA you think it is, you're just fatphobic."
tw: fatphobia extremely unfriendly reminder that donald trump will never see this kind of shit, but all your fat friends will. https://t.co/nSYWzQXDz4
"Trump isn’t bad because he’s fat, he’s bad because he’s a fascist," Rylan wrote in a follow-up tweet. "Think about what you’re actually trying to criticize before you hurt every fat person who sees your reckless words."