Politico's Twitter account spread a misleading video Monday that supposedly showed President Donald Trump tossing a teenager's hat away after he had signed it.
"A kid asks Trump to sign his hat at the White House Easter Egg Roll. The president signs ... and then tosses the hat into the crowd," Politico tweeted.
A kid asks Trump to sign his hat at the White House Easter Egg Roll. The president signs ... and then tosses the hat into the crowd. pic.twitter.com/7ExdhpO97H
— POLITICO (@politico) April 17, 2017
The video quickly went viral, racking up nearly ten thousand retweets and getting picked up by other outlets.
"Trump, using a thick Sharpie, put his signature on the bill of the cap, then looked up and lobbed it back into the crowd, with a smile, nowhere near the hand that had given it to him (presumably leaving the hat's owner to scramble as Trump looked on and the crowd laughed)," the Washington Post reported.
Buzzfeed even claimed in a tweet that the poor kid ended up "without a hat."
"Nooooooo." - Guy without a hat after Trump throws it. https://t.co/OyNnrUadNX
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) April 17, 2017
In the video posted by Politico, it's impossible to tell where the teen was standing and where the hat landed. But as NBC News' Micah Grimes pointed out shortly afterward, it "appears, in another angle, that he threw it back to the teen who handed it to him."
@politico Appears, in another angle, that he threw it back to the teen who handed it to him. https://t.co/LdEGQR7gvq
— Micah Grimes (@MicahGrimes) April 17, 2017
Grimes's NBC colleague Bradd Jaffy agreed. "Y'all are making too much of this," he tweeted. "Trump doesn't randomly throw the hat into the crowd. He tosses it up, jokingly. The guy says "thank you."
Y'all are making too much of this. Trump doesn't randomly throw the hat into the crowd. He tosses it up, jokingly. The guy says "thank you." pic.twitter.com/RcDioWwdrB
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) April 17, 2017
Other outlets hedged on whether or not Trump threw the hat into the crowd, or to the teen. After Grimes' tweet, Buzzfeed updated its initial piece to include a poll, where readers can vote on whether or not Trump actually threw it to the teen or whether the teen just happened to catch it.
There was at least one genuinely awkward moment during the Easter event: video showed Trump forgetting to put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem, until being nudged by his wife Melania.