A brief clip made its way around the internet last week, appearing to show President Donald Trump blatantly ignoring a boy in a wheelchair. Upon further review, it turns out Trump did speak to the boy, but J.K. Rowling has refused to acknowledge it.
Instead, the Harry Potter author, a longtime Trump critic, has left up her tweets that rip Trump for doing something we now know he didn’t do.
And we’re not sure why Rowling isn’t acknowledging her role in promoting the bogus story.
For the record, this was the actual video of Trump saying hello to the boy.
Again: Trump gave that child more personal attention than anybody else standing there behind the podium. pic.twitter.com/6MYvOSHYQW
— Brian Cates – Political Columnist & Pundit (@drawandstrike) July 29, 2017
This was the video that made waves …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu76DwhI_yY
… and that caused Rowling to go on a Twitter rant.
That man occupies the most powerful office in the free world and his daily outrages against civilised norms are having a corrosive effect /3
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 28, 2017
Others who tweeted the misleading video of Trump deleted their tweets once they discovered their error, including this aide to Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).
Deleted an earlier tweet because it turned out to be missing some context. Apologies.
— Ansel Herz (@Ansel) July 29, 2017
Chelsea Clinton did the same.
Hello Piers-I hadn't seen the full video until now. I removed the retweet. And, the President should have shaken the boy's hand at the end.
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) July 30, 2017
But Rowling thus far has refused.
Even the boy’s mother weighed in on Rowling’s tweets.
.@jk_rowling even the child's mother has pleaded with you to retract your ugly lies. But you be you.. pic.twitter.com/VcNYu2t0w9
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) July 30, 2017
Rowling can be cutting and clever on Twitter, and she clearly loves tweeting about American politics. But she’s faltered lately against Trump, using a fake Lincoln quote to blast him, and now she hasn’t taken down her erroneous tweets. And ignoring the story probably won’t help her cause, especially when one of her biggest Twitter enemies refuses to let her get away with it.
Ms Rowling posted 8 tweets abusing Trump for snubbing a disabled boy – when he hadn't.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) July 31, 2017
She refuses to delete the tweets.
SHE is the bully. https://t.co/3k1CJiTTF5
Update 5:28pm CT, July 31: Rowling apologized on Monday for the incorrect tweets. She also deleted them.
sources have informed me that that was not a full or accurate representation of their interaction. I very clearly projected my own /2
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 31, 2017