White House Tweets Picture Of Snowfall With Caption ‘First Snow Of The Year’ As Temperature Hits 51 In D.C.
The White House may have experienced a very isolated cold front on Sunday night.
The official Twitter account for the White House shared a picture of what appeared to be snowfall outside President Donald Trump’s residence along with the caption, “First snow of the year!”
The only problem with the photo, as many commenters quickly pointed out, was that it was 51 degrees in Washington, D.C., at the time the photo was shared, and the temperature never fell anywhere close to the freezing point at any time on Sunday.
It’s not clear if the photo was meant to be from Sunday night, but the region actually saw its first snowfall several days before, with a light dusting on the ground on January 7. The snowfall was followed by something of a warm front, with temperatures hitting 72 degrees in the nation’s capital on Saturday.
In fact, it was so warm later at the end of the week and start of the weekend that several cities hit record highs. In Pittsburgh, the thermometer hit 70 degrees on Saturday, which CNN noted broke a 130-year-old record high of 68 degrees.
Several commenters pointed out to the White House that its claim of snowfall amid the unseasonably warm temperatures appeared to be fake news.
“What the hell are you people talking about? It’s been damn near 70 degrees for the last few days. Is this an urgent message to Trump handlers or is someone trying to tell the world Trump is losing his mind?” one person wrote.
“Jfc you can’t even tell the truth about snow,” another added.
“Why. Why would you lie about THIS,” wrote another commenter.
The gaffe even caught the attention of some of Trump’s potential rivals, with the campaign account for Bernie Sanders taking the opportunity to needle the president.
“We can’t wait to post about how climate change is real to this account,” the campaign tweeted.
First snow of the year! ?? pic.twitter.com/kgSLQX6QxK
— The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) January 13, 2020
As many pointed out, this is not the first time the Trump administration has been accused of being dishonest about the weather. Last year, Trump was accused of using a Sharpie marker to alter a projected path for Hurricane Dorian after he incorrectly stated that Alabama was in the path of the storm. The marker widened the actual projection to make it look as if the storm could drive through Florida and strike Alabama. Trump had dug in after his claim was corrected by meteorologists, making a series of claims that the storm at one point was projected to strike Alabama.
