Seattle News Editor Fired For Morphing Trump’s Face During A Live Broadcast
President Trump’s Tuesday evening live address was highly anticipated in the wake of the ongoing partial government shutdown. While seated in the Oval Office, the president spoke on a variety of topics including his promised border wall, the crime rates of illegal immigrants, and the possibility of an upcoming national emergency. One of the most noticeable parts of his speech was his suggestion that Congress allocate $5.7 billion for the wall project, a statement that was widely criticized by Democrats. One Seattle-based news editor was so irritated by the speech that he decided to lighten the mood by morphing Trump’s appearance during the live broadcast, according to Vice.
The news editor who was previously employed by Q13, Seattle’s local Fox affiliate, was promptly fired for his stunt. The doctored footage included a stretched and distorted image of Trump with extremely orange skin and a blown up mouth. Although many across the nation were very amused by the footage, the editor’s bosses from Q13 found it far less comical. News director Erica Hill issued a statement regarding the incident saying that the stunt “does not meet our editorial standards.” The news program conducted an investigation looking into exactly how the doctored footage wound up on air to be seen by thousands of people.
The station's video editor lost his job over this. https://t.co/Bkmyg6aC2c
— VICE (@VICE) January 12, 2019
“We regret if it is seen as portraying the President in a negative light,” Hill said following the incident. It didn’t take long for Q13 to find the man responsible for the prank. “We’ve completed our investigation into this incident and determined that the actions were the result of an individual editor whose employment has been terminated,” she said in a statement to the SeattleTimes on Thursday.
Although the identity of the terminated news editor has not yet been publicly revealed, many are applauding him for his editing skills and for bringing a bit of humor to an otherwise rather dismal public address.
The Fake News Media keeps saying we haven’t built any NEW WALL. Below is a section just completed on the Border. Anti-climbing feature included. Very high, strong and beautiful! Also, many miles already renovated and in service! pic.twitter.com/UAAGXl5Byr
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2019
Meanwhile, the government shutdown is not expected to end anytime soon. Trump continues to promote the wall building project on social media with frequent tweets. On Friday, he shared a photo of the anticipated wall design. He criticized the media for not reporting the progress that’s been made on the wall thus far.
“The Fake News Media keeps saying we haven’t built any NEW WALL. Below is a section just completed on the Border. Anti-climbing feature included. Very high, strong and beautiful! Also, many miles already renovated and in service,” he wrote along with the photo.
