The Internet Fell for a Hoax That Claimed Trump Watches Hours of Gorilla Shows Everyday

The internet is a weird place.

January 6, 2018

CORTE MADERA, CA - JANUARY 05: Copies of the book 'Fire and Fury' by author Michael Wolff are displayed on a shelf at Book Passage on January 5, 2018 in Corte Madera, California. A controversial new book about the inner workings of the Trump administration hit bookstore shelves nearly a week earlier than anticipated after lawyers for Donald Trump issued a cease and desist letter to publisher Henry Holt & Co. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Image via Justin Sullivan/Getty

Everyone once in a while, a viral internet hoax comes along to remind us, once again, that people tend to believe everything they read.

Michael Wolff’s new book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House provides a grim and weird look at what went on inside the White House walls during Trump's first few months in office. The book provides startling details about Trumps' day-to-day moves, including claims that he eats McDonald's because he fears of being poisoned. The details were collected during Wolff's unfettered access inside the White House, granted by Trump himself.

In the spirit of humor, one Twitter user named @pixelatedboat posted a fake excerpt from the book that described the commander-in-chief spending hours on end watching a gorilla channel curated by his staff.

The fake blurb quickly spread throughout social media as people mistakenly took this story as factual.

Things got so out of hand that the author of the satirical tweet came forward to clarify that it was all a joke and even switched their username to "the gorilla channel thing is a joke,” to make sure people knew it was just a joke.