Donald Trump had been allegedly involved in sexual watersports, among other claims. Allegedly this was all a story created by 4chan, a site in which people can make anonymous posts.
Last night (10th January 2017) #Watersports was trending on Twitter. The reason? Donald Trump had apparently been involved in ‘perverted’ sexual acts including watching prostitutes urinating on each other.
A metaphorical golden shower…
The Story
A leaked dossier (collection of documents about one person, event etc.) had allegedly been given to federal authorities, Trump himself and outgoing President Barack Obama. It was said to have been created by a British intelligence agent and although previously unverified and dismissed as ‘fake’ by Trump. However with Buzzfeed publishing the dossier yesterday, many were quick to believe the claims that within.
Among the claims were the following:
- Russia had been aiding Trump for at least 5 years.
- The Kremlin (Russian Government) had offered Trump real-estate deals in order to ‘cultivate’ him. He turned these down.
- And the thing that everyone has been talking about. There is alleged footage of Trump watching prostitutes taking part in a ‘golden shower’ on a hotel bed in Moscow’s Hilton.
- He did this because Barack and Michelle Obama had once stayed in the same room and Trump ‘hates them’.
Moscow’s Hilton, the hotel where the alleged incident took place. Source: Flickr
Twitter went into a frenzy with #watersports and #goldenshower both trending last night. There has been wide scale debate on the legitimacy of the dossier and a lot of news sources had already published the story.
The Lie?
I win an election easily, a great “movement” is verified, and crooked opponents try to belittle our victory with FAKE NEWS. A sorry state!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2017
Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to “leak” into the public. One last shot at me.Are we living in Nazi Germany?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2017
Trump was quick to deny the claims on Twitter, labelling it a ‘Witch Hunt’. Furthermore, the Kremlin have stated that they do not have information on Trump. Despite there being little proof, 4chan has claimed responsibility for the ‘golden shower’ story. 4chan is a site in which anonymous posters can share stories and images with no prior verification. Whilst the majority claim the story and dossier are indeed fake, it is still largely up for debate.
In a press conference today, Trump was asked about the allegations. This is what he said to CNN reporter Jim Acosta:
The Effects
Regardless of whether you like Trump or not, it is an outrageous claim to make if it is not legitimate. Perhaps it was a bid to destabilise an already heavily-contested future presidency.
Buzzfeed were the first to release the dossier, causing a social media frenzy. Source: WikiCommons
Buzzfeed have been heavily criticised by reporters for releasing the document. They responded by saying that they are leaving Americans “to make their own mind up” in relation to the allegations.
Also, the other claims in the dossier are perhaps more important than an alleged personal sexual fetish. If Trump has ties to Russia and they have really aided his rise to power this would have more substantial political impact then a one-off golden shower.
If this is completely fabricated information, it is immoral and unjust. To publish ‘false’ stories or reports that haven’t been verified prior to publication can be damaging and despite your opinion on Trump, it doesn’t allow him to take to the presidency with a ‘clean slate’ (if he could). If this is the start of things to come, expect more explicit, sensationalised and scandalous false news stories from anti-Trump supporters throughout the next 4 years.
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