最近《華盛頓郵報》記者 Dave Weigel 在 Twitter 上，分享了一張美國總統特朗普在佛羅里達州出席「Trump’s Friday」活動時的照片，可以見到現場觀眾甚少，觀眾席上有大量空櫈，暗示特朗普不受歡迎。

特朗普迅速反擊，貼出數張在現場不同角度拍攝的照片，指當時座無虛席，而記者的照片應該是在他到場前數小時拍攝的，批評記者發佈虛假新聞及故意抹黑，並要求《華盛頓郵報》收回言論：

.@DaveWeigel @WashingtonPost put out a phony photo of an empty arena hours before I arrived @ the venue, w/ thousands of people outside, on their way in. Real photos now shown as I spoke. Packed house, many people unable to get in. Demand apology & retraction from FAKE NEWS WaPo! pic.twitter.com/XAblFGh1ob

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2017

記者在大約 20 分鐘後，向特朗普道歉及將照片刪除，又表示照片是在他的個人帳號上載的，與《華盛頓郵報》無關：

Sure thing: I apologize. I deleted the photo after @dmartosko told me I’d gotten it wrong. Was confused by the image of you walking in the bottom right corner. https://t.co/fQY7GMNSaD

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) December 9, 2017

It was a bad tweet on my personal account, not a story for Washington Post. I deleted it after like 20 minutes. Very fair to call me out.

Everything I say on Twitter is a joke, except what I say about @swin24. https://t.co/tI7SQnpoN9

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) December 9, 2017

不過，特朗普並不接受他的道歉，再次發文斥責傳媒抹黑，更要求《華盛頓郵報》將他解僱：

.@daveweigel of the Washington Post just admitted that his picture was a FAKE (fraud?) showing an almost empty arena last night for my speech in Pensacola when, in fact, he knew the arena was packed (as shown also on T.V.). FAKE NEWS, he should be fired.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2017

事後，The New York Times 曾嘗試聯絡 Dave Weigel 不果，《華盛頓郵報》發言人則未有說明 Dave Weigel 是否已被解僱或主動辭職。

以前的人常說「有圖有真相」，可是在「看圖作文」、改圖盛行的環境，有圖片甚至影片，都未必能還原真相呢。想最接近真相，讀者就只能多看幾份報章，以及自己多點思考了。

Via The New York Times