The self-proclaimed ‘Scroogiest Politician in the Universe’ sent out a hilarious card spoofing Donald Trump’s much-loved card. But is it actually fake?
Something happened this morning. This uncanny Christmas card made its way around the internet and it is genuinely shocking.
Instead of a white bearded man waving a nativity scene at the camera and berating us for celebrating Christmas, the card features Thomas Mulcair, Justin Trudeau, May, Trudeau, Ford, Ford, May, Ford, mayor Tim Hudak and leader of Ontario’s opposition party, Andrea Horwath. However, the Guardian has been unable to locate any of the politicians on the card.
Anders von Bismarck is there, as is Walter Raleigh, the last English colonist to land in North America, while Ernest Hemingway is holding a stick of butter instead of a wand.
“Have you ever worried about how each day looks like the Scroogiest Politician in the Universe?” says a post from Iliberal.ca, which forwarded the picture to the Guardian.
“Well, today the Scroogiest Politician in the Universe is in real life and it is Canadians’ beloved NDP leader Thomas Mulcair. In this fake little cards, we find the most feisty New Democrat in Canada today. Think back to how uncomfortable it was for Canadians as Justin Trudeau received the child pornography he abused our children with his childish smile. Remember how Trudeau promised to heal a broken church?”
IamPDs.org further commented on the fake card.
“Now that we have a Canadian laughing at Donald Trump, it is laughable that Donald Trump is laughing back. What are we laughing at in this photo? Donald Trump, the sham who is taking away our freedoms, who is mocking Israel, mocking minorities, who has destroyed our airports and who as of today has declared a war on Canada. Thomas Mulcair is the laughing stock of the Canadian right and John Horwath is our consolation prize in this photo of politicians.”
But is the card fake? The image is a total hoax.
Social media users around the world have mocked the false image, calling it “a little ridiculous”, “bizarre” and a “total crap job”. But the card could be more believable than you think.
Ken Zinck, author of the satirical web comic Bunnit, posted a comment on Facebook that said it could be nothing more than a Photoshop of his web comic. Zinck told the Guardian that he posted the story on Facebook with the message “was it a fake or was it really that bad and maybe I should give them a call to get some confirmation”.
“Turns out it’s the latter,” Zinck said. “I sent it to a friend in Ontario who has customised Thomas Mulcair cards from his toy store and he even posted a photo of some. I have no idea what the story actually is but it’s definitely more credible than any of the stories I’ve come across in my seven years writing comics.”
In a video on his YouTube page, Zinck said: “If it’s the real thing, it’s good. If it’s a fake, there’s some good material for me.”
Erin McKeever (@ErinMcKeever1) Greetings, except this is that warm fuzzy feeling when you look at someone and know they’re just messed up and you have to say you feel bad for them. pic.twitter.com/o77cbUq94T
The fake card first appeared on Reddit and was later shared across Twitter and Instagram. On Vine, a man called @ScroogSays shared his discontent with the fake card. “Trump has this year’s festive card photos of North Korea, Putin, Xi Jinping and Bashar al-Assad. Don’t you just hate it when you come across fake PR for an unpopular politician? And our so-called leader would be in just about the top five of jokers,” he said.