Earlier today, Politico reported that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson President gave Joe Biden a framed photo of Frederick Douglass that was “printed out from Wikipedia”:
Biden's gift to Boris: A $6k bike handmade in Philly, complete with a blue helmet bearing the American and British flags.
Boris Johnson's gift to Biden? "A framed photo of anti-slavery campaigner Frederick Douglass printed out from Wikipedia."https://t.co/mJg3hjhyYQ
— Zack Stanton (@zackstanton) June 11, 2021
Now, as much as we want this story to be true. . .
good grief pic.twitter.com/jN2s0RCJP5
— Benjamin Freed (@brfreed) June 11, 2021
. . .it’s not true:
sorry to be this person but I've looked into this and alas, No. 10 Downing Street did *not* just print out a picture it found on Wikipedia. https://t.co/IJ5UOGxsdo
— Nora Biette-Timmons (@biettetimmons) June 11, 2021
The photograph is actually “of an image of Douglass from a mural in Edinburgh”:
Boris Johnson did not give Biden a photo of Frederick Douglass printed out from Wikipedia.
He gave him an original photograph of an image of Douglass from a mural in Edinburgh. The image was painted by the artist Ross Blair. The photo was taken by Melissa Highton. https://t.co/1Rap12dY1l
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) June 11, 2021
“Too good to check”:
This "BoJo gave Biden a picture printed out from Wikipedia" fantasy is one of the all-time examples of an absurd story people ran with because it was, as they say, too good to check.
True story here: https://t.co/9sDV8Z3Xu8
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) June 11, 2021
This is “…one of the all-time examples of an absurd story people ran with because it was, as they say, too good to check”:
The image of Frederick Douglass was painted by Ross Blair and the photograph was taken by Melissa Highton – a UK-US dual national.
Mr Blair told BBC Scotland he was surprised to receive a call from the Home Office a few weeks ago asking for permission to give the image to the president.
The street artist said: “It’s a great honour and a massive global platform.
“To think it could potentially be hanging on a wall in the White House is fantastic and very exciting. It is a great accolade and acknowledgement.”
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