Author J.K. Rowling has still not corrected an inaccurate tweet that she said depicted President Donald Trump snubbing a child with a disability. Last week, Rowling quoted a now-deleted tweet of a video that showed Trump seemingly ignoring a small child in a wheelchair. That tweet had been retweeted thousands of times before the actual video was uncovered.
In a series of tweets, Rowling called Trump a "monster of narcissism" who treats people with contempt. She said the clip "touched her raw" because her mother used a wheelchair.
Trump imitated a disabled reporter. Now he pretends not to see a child in a wheelchair, as though frightened he might catch his condition.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 28, 2017
This monster of narcissism values only himself and his pale reflections. The disabled, minorities, transgender people, the poor, women
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 28, 2017
(unless related to him by ties of blood, and therefore his creations) are treated with contempt, because they do not resemble Trump.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 28, 2017
My mother used a wheelchair. I witnessed people uncomfortable around her disability, but if they had a shred of decency they got over it. 1/
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 28, 2017
So, yes, that clip of Trump looking deliberately over a disabled child's head, ignoring his outstretched hand, has touched me on the raw. /2
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 28, 2017
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
How stunning, and how horrible, that Trump cannot bring himself to shake the hand of a small boy who only wanted to touch the President. /4x
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 28, 2017
There's just one problem: the full version of the clip doesn't show Trump avoiding the child. Quite the opposite, actually--Trump spends more time with that child than anyone else in the room.
.@Ansel misleading followers.
— The Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) July 28, 2017
Found full video, Pres. Trump spent more time with this little boy than with anyone else
CC: @KellyannePolls pic.twitter.com/iItnJsCO2a
The author of the original tweet, Ansel Herz, a comms director, deleted it and apologized, but not before it was retweeted over 12,000 times.
Deleted an earlier tweet because it turned out to be missing some context. Apologies.
— Ansel Herz (@Ansel) July 29, 2017
Further, the boy's mother said that her son was not attempting to shake the president's hand in that video, but rather he was trying to show him his new badge.
.@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
Still, in light of all of this new information, Rowling has neither deleted her tweets nor has she apologized for misleading thousands of people.
I get it, mistakes happen all the time--especially in this era of "tweet first, confirm later." But once a tweet has been proven incorrect, it's not a good practice to keep the error up. I mean, even The Associated Press can own up to its mistakes. Rowling should too.
The AP has deleted a tweet about a giraffe being born because it included a photo of the wrong giraffe. A new tweet is upcoming.
— AP West Region (@APWestRegion) July 26, 2017
Rowling has made it quite clear from the get-go that she's no fan of Donald Trump. Which is fine--nobody has to like anybody. But lying about people? There's a clear difference.