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Sorry, But Trump Didn’t Actually Overfeed Those Fish

This is not the face of a man who just overfed some koi. Photo: Toru Hamai/Bloomberg via Getty Images

There have been many, many things to own Donald Trump for since he became president. The time it took him three tries to properly spell “hereby” in a tweet. The time he faved a tweet calling him “not presidential.” That time he staged a photo shoot at Mar-a-Lago while holding a Sharpie and pretending to write his inaugural address. All very real things worthy of mockery.

But today — and I can’t believe I’m writing this — Trump is getting dragged online for something he didn’t actually screw up: fish-feeding. During a stop on his 12-day trip to Asia, Trump and Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe fed the koi carp of Akasaka Palace. At first, the two men spooned food into the pond a few pellets at a time, but eventually, both leaders dumped their boxes into the pond. First Abe and then, likely taking his lead from the prime minister, Trump.

If you didn’t watch the full clip, or only got your news from certain Twitter circles, you’d be likely to believe that Trump was the only one to dump his box of food. And sure, the picture of Trump appearing to lose patience with the slower feeding technique makes for a good meme, but it’s not the whole picture.

Chances are good that there’ll be another real Trump gaffe in the very near future. Until then, this piece of fake news can sleep with the koi fishes.

Sorry, But Trump Didn’t Actually Overfeed Those Fish