Fact check: Satirical tweet on Mar-a-Lago visitors circulates online

The claim: An image shows tweet from Donald Trump Jr. urging Trump supporters not to visit Mar-a-Lago

After supporters of former President Donald Trump protested outside his Mar-a-Lago estate, a tweet circulated online purporting to show Donald Trump Jr. telling supporters to stay away from the location.

“While my Father loves almost all his supporters, please do not come to Mar-a-Lago to support President Trump,” reads An Aug. 14 Facebook post showing a screenshot of the supposed Donald Trump Jr. tweet.  “We have many important people coming through the club and need to keep it clean.” 

The Facebook post adds,  "Yeah, lots of important spies and other violent felons will be dropping by quite a bit from now on," reads the caption.

The post accumulated over 2,000 interactions and 100 shares within three days. Similar posts have amassed hundreds of interactions on Facebook and Twitter.

Comments showed many users took the post seriously, like one that read, “So he admits that his supporters are NOT important or clean people!!”

But the supposed tweet isn't real.

The tweet was created as satire, as noted by text in the bottom right of the supposed screenshot. USA TODAY found no evidence the tweet in the post was by Donald Trump Jr.

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USA TODAY reached out to the online users who shared the claim for comment.

Tweet came from satire account

The fake tweet originated from account @FaithRubPol, the profile for which says, “Trying to understand this crazy world & get a few laughs. Most of our images are satire.”

The bottom right corner of the tweet says “Parody by Back Rub" which clearly indicates the fabricated image was made as a joke. The time stamp on the fabrication is another clue, as it reads “6:99 AM."

The account provided clarification on Aug. 15 for those who did not spot the parody label: "This is a parody, which we posted at 6:99 AM as it says on the bottom :)," reads the tweet.

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There are no credible news reports suggesting that Donald Trump Jr. told his father's supporters not to visit Mar-a-Lago. The tweet is not mentioned on any of Donald Trump Jr.'s verified social media accounts. Referencing a fact check of the claim by the Associated Press, Trump Jr. tweeted Aug. 16 saying the claim was "clearly something I would never say."

Our rating: Satire

Based on our research, we rate SATIRE an image that purports to show a tweet from Donald Trump Jr. urging Trump supporters to stay away from Mar-a-Lago. The claim stems from a Twitter account that is known for creating satirical content, and it was clearly labeled as such.

Our fact-checking sources:

• Associated Press, Aug. 15, Fake Trump Jr. tweet about keeping Mar-a-Lago ‘clean’ was parody

• USA TODAY, Aug. 8, Trump loyalists descend on Mar-a-Lago as news breaks of FBI search

• PolitiFact, Aug. 15, No, Trump Jr. didn’t suggest his father’s supporters aren’t clean

• User @FaithRubPol, Aug. 15, Tweet

• User @FaithRubPol, accessed Aug. 18, Twitter profile

• Donald Trump, Jr., accessed Aug. 19, Facebook page

• Donald Trump, Jr., accessed Aug. 19, Twitter profile

• Donald Trump, Jr., accessed Aug. 19, Instagram profile

• Donald Trump, Jr., Aug. 16, Tweet

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Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Fake Donald Trump Jr. tweet about Mar-a-Lago is satire