Stand up for the facts!
Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.
I would like to contribute
No, Trump didn't win International Man of the Year award
A website affiliated with a self-described liberal troll who tries to dupe people on Facebook into clicking on his made-up stories is peddling a bogus claim that President Donald Trump was awarded the title of International Man of the Year.
"Trump wins the award Obama never could," stated a March 9 headline on the website Ladies of Liberty, which claims to be a satire website.
Don’t worry about finding out which award he won. This story is a hoax.
Facebook users flagged the post as being potentially fabricated, as part of the social network’s efforts to combat online hoaxes. Ladies of Liberty describes itself as "a whimsical playland of conservative satire" and says that everything on the website is fiction. It's affiliated with Christopher Blair, a man whose websites are among the biggest sources of hoaxes online.
Featured Fact-check
The story said that Trump was awarded the title of "International Man of the Year" by the ICMSA. Click on the link for the acronym, and it shows that it stands for "International Committee for Meaningless and Superficial Awards."
Sign up for PolitiFact texts
Blair operates a number of websites that churn out misinformation, sometimes under the banner of satire, sometimes not. He shares his stories in Facebook groups and tries to get them to spread virally. "I discovered that Facebook following plus blog plus ads equals income," Blair told us in 2017. Blair's stories are often copied by other online blogs, and he has reported them for copyright violations, according to BuzzFeed.
Back to the statement. A website claimed "Trump wins the award Obama never could."
The story is made up. We rate it Pants on Fire!
Our Sources
Ladies of Liberty, "Trump wins the award Obama never could," March 9, 2018
Ladies of Liberty, About, Accessed March 12, 2018
PolitiFact, "Fake news! Blog claims Jeff Flake leaks indictments in Mueller probe," Oct. 30, 2017
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
More by Amy Sherman
No, Trump didn't win International Man of the Year award
Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!
In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.