"Because so many of you are talking about Friday's C-SPAN caller who identified himself as 'John Barron,' we want to put this to rest: it was not the president. The call came from a central Virginia phone number and came while the president was in a widely covered, in-person White-House meeting with the governors. Tune into C-SPAN for the actual president at the State of the Union Address on Tuesday night."
"'John Barron' was either Trump himself or someone doing a spot-on Trump imitation, right down to the sophomoric insults that the president is so fond of. The call lasted 32 seconds before the caller was cut off. During that half-minute, Barron called House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries a 'dope' and said that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer 'can't cook a cheeseburger.'"
"Was it the president? No, probably not. It might have been a great imitator. It might have even been AI-generated. But part of the issue is that, besides sounding like Trump, it's not hard to believe that Trump would actually do something like that. Trump will give his State of the Union address on Tuesday night."
There was a caller on C-SPAN who identified himself as 'John Barron' and used a voice strikingly similar to President Trump while criticizing a Supreme Court ruling about tariffs. The 32-second call included insults toward House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. The name 'John Barron' harkens to a pseudonym Trump used previously to feed reporters. C-SPAN issued a statement denying the president made the call, noting the caller originated from a central Virginia number and that the president was attending a White House governors meeting. Observers suggested an impersonator or AI could explain the resemblance.
Read at Poynter
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