By The New York Times (U.S.) | Created at 2024-10-04 21:23:10 | Updated at 2024-10-04 23:26:53
2 hours ago
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
As the campaign reaches its final month, the Republican nominee is intensifying his pattern of making false and outlandish statements.
- Oct. 4, 2024, 4:48 p.m. ET
Donald J. Trump announced what would have been groundbreaking news on Wall Street, in a post on his social media website, Truth Social, on Friday afternoon. At 1:56 p.m., Mr. Trump published, alongside a siren emoji, a claim that he’d been endorsed by America’s most influential banker, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon.
There was just one problem: It wasn’t true.
A spokeswoman for JPMorgan Chase confirmed to The New York Times that Mr. Dimon has made no endorsements in the presidential race. Nor has Mr. Dimon given money to either Mr. Trump or his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, the spokeswoman added.
A Trump campaign spokesman did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment about the false claim.
The claim was evocative of an increasing pattern of false statements or implications from Mr. Trump in recent days and weeks, including a Truth Social post using manipulated images of people wearing T-shirts declaring they were Taylor Swift fans backing Mr. Trump. “I accept!” Mr. Trump wrote, falsely indicating he had won the endorsement of the pop star, who later endorsed Ms. Harris.
The origin of Mr. Trump’s post about Mr. Dimon, made while he was flying to Georgia for an event, appeared to come from posts on X. Two right-leaning accounts sympathetic to the former president posted on X shortly after 12:30 p.m. that Mr. Dimon had made an endorsement. Mr. Trump’s own post came shortly before 2 p.m. And the denials from Mr. Dimon’s aides came shortly after that.
The episode highlighted Mr. Trump’s penchant for consuming any and all news related to himself, with little interest in distinguishing between verifiable news sources and conspiracy theories generated on social media before he nonetheless makes them his own and spreads them.
