Donald Trump told People magazine in 1998: “If I were to run, I'd run as a Republican. They’re the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything on Fox News. I could lie and they'd still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific.”
This quote is fabricated. People magazine has previously confirmed that it had no record of having published any such interview or exchange with Mr Trump.
A number of Facebook users have shared an image of a widely debunked claim that president-elect Donald Trump told People magazine in 1998 that Republicans are “the dumbest group of voters”.
The image features a picture of Mr Trump when he was younger above text which reads: “If I were to run, I’d run as a Republican. They’re the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything on Fox News. I could lie and they’d still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific. Donald Trump. People Magazine, 1998.”
The fake quote has been circulating since at least 2015 and has periodically reappeared on social media. Other fact checking organisations including Factcheck.org and Snopes have also found the quote to be false.
People magazine has previously confirmed that it had no record of having published any such interview with Mr Trump or “anything remotely like this quote”.
The picture being shared with the quote is a still from a video clip of Mr Trump being interviewed on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1988. He is asked if he would want to run for president in the interview, but does not say the fake quote attributed to him in posts circulating on social media.
Instead he tells Ms Winfrey: “Probably not, but I do get tired of seeing the country ripped off […] I just don’t think I really have the inclination to do it, I love what I’m doing, I really like it […] I just probably wouldn’t do it, Oprah. I probably wouldn’t. But I do get tired of seeing what’s happening with this country, and if it got so bad, I would never want to rule it out totally because I really am tired of seeing what’s happening with this country, how we’re really making other people live like kings and we’re not.”
The quote is an example of a “zombie claim”—one that crops up repeatedly over the course of weeks, months or years, even after being repeatedly debunked.
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