Donald Trump Duped by Fake Denzel Washington Endorsement as Oscar Winner's Rep Confirms Quote Praising President Is 'Not Real'

President Donald Trump shared a fabricated social media endorsement on Monday, October 12, which falsely claimed that Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington, 71, called him a “great friend” and an “even better president.” Washington's representatives quickly confirmed the statement is entirely fake.

Trump shared a screenshot on Truth Social from an X account named “Red Eagle Updates.” The graphic attributed the quote to Washington, saying, “I’ve never met anyone braver, smarter, or who cares more about America than Donald Trump.”

A spokesperson for Washington told media outlets the quote is not real. Fact-checking services like Snopes had already debunked the statement two days before Trump posted it, finding no record of Washington ever making such remarks.

Alan Nierob, Washington's representative, told The Washington Post that the quote was “not real,” adding he had “no idea where it came from” and said he had “no idea” whether the actor had ever met Trump.

Media reports noted that the same fabricated quote has previously appeared in fake memes attributing it to other celebrities, including actor Matthew McConaughey and musician Mick Jagger.

While Washington generally keeps a low political profile, federal campaign records show he previously donated to Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama in 2008 and Hillary Clinton in 2016.

During a press run for his movie Fences shortly after the 2016 election, a journalist asked Washington who he voted for, citing a viral fake news story claiming he endorsed Trump. Washington explicitly shut down the question, responding: “None of your business.”

In a November 2024 interview with the Sunday Times following the presidential election, Washington was asked about Trump's victory over Kamala Harris.

Rather than speaking about Trump directly, he offered a broad warning about information-age politics: "It's all politics, all promises unkempt... We're all slaves to information now... So whatever you feel about the leaders, like this guy's crazy or the other one is sane, you'd better realize you're being manipulated by both sides period. Yeah, so go to the movies.”

Many social media users mocked Trump for falling for a recycled meme that fact-checkers had debunked days earlier, questioning his media team's vetting process.

Commenters joked about how the Oscar-winning actor might react, with one Facebook user noting, "I know Denzel mad as h---." Others flatly remarked that a real endorsement like that would happen "not in this lifetime.”

Users drew direct parallels to when Trump previously amplified AI-generated or fake images of Taylor Swift endorsing him (she endorsed Harris), noting a pattern of using fake celebrity praise to boost his image.