Talking About Conservative Propaganda, Part II: Of Queens and Memes
On Quora, our old friend "Anonymous" asks:
What does Queen Elizabeth think of President Trump?
This is my reply to "Anonymous," complete with links to actual sources and the conservative meme in question.
Queen Elizabeth II is a dignified woman, a head of state (strictly ceremonial) not only of the United Kingdom but also of several other nations that are members of the Commonwealth of Nations, including Australia, Canada, the Bahamas, and New Zealand. She has been on the throne, metaphorically speaking, for slightly over 67 years, the longest reign of a British monarch in history. And although she’s 93, she’s in excellent health and will probably be around for a few years more, setting a record for regal longevity that will be hard to break.
Because the Queen is not an absolute monarch who issues commands to her ministers (save strictly ceremonial ones on certain occasions) or is directly involved in government operations, Elizabeth is not someone who gives off-the-cuff remarks to the press or any Tom, Dick, or Harry (except, of course, her grandson, Prince Harry) or grant interviews. As a matter of fact, she doesn’t even write articles of any sort (although other members of the Royal Family do).
So, basically, anyone who says that Queen Elizabeth hates Donald Trump, loves Donald Trump, or is indifferent toward Donald Trump because she said this or because she said that is flat-out lying.
For instance, conservatives are trotting out a meme that is making the rounds on the Internet in which Her Majesty allegedly said the following in an interview:
"He’s really just an amazing person. So thoughtful, you know. We’ve had some private talks and he is very genuine. I have a sense about people, and the president has a good heart. In another life, he could be my son."
Pretty nice comment, right?
Well, it does sound nice. But it’s fake. Queen Elizabeth II never said this.
Per Politifact:
No, Queen Elizabeth II did not call Trump an ‘amazing person’ with a ‘good heart’ in an interview
By Samantha Putterman on Wednesday, June 19th, 2019 at 5:13 p.m.
Following president Trump’s state visit to the U.K., France and Ireland in early June 2019, a curious quotation from none other than Queen Elizabeth II started to circulate around social media.
The post features a photo of the two together, with the following quote about Trump attributed to the queen:
"He’s really just an amazing person. So thoughtful, you know. We’ve had some private talks and he is very genuine. I have a sense about people, and the president has a good heart. In another life, he could be my son."
The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The queen does not give interviews nor publicly comments on politics, Buckingham Palace’s website says, and there is no evidence that she made such a statement.
Other versions of the post take it further and say that journalists suppressed and scrapped an entire interview with Queen Elizabeth after she gave Trump such glowing praise.
The quote appeared on the Clover Chronicle, a conservative website that has a conspiracy section on its homepage. The article claimed that an "unnamed MSM (mainstream media) news outlet in the United Kingdom is claiming they were recently involved in an interview with Queen Elizabeth II where she unexpectedly complimented U.S. President Donald Trump … The alleged insider said executives at the organization are ‘fuming’ because they couldn’t salvage the piece due to her relentless praise of the POTUS."
That "insider" was an anonymous member of online forum 4Chan, who posted the account on June 4 (which has since been deleted) on the forum’s "politically incorrect" board.
There is no evidence that the queen ever said this and the story contains no legitimate sources.
Per Buckingham Palace’s webpage:
Interviews
Interviews with members of the Royal Family for press or broadcast media are relatively rare. However, due consideration is given to all requests by bona fide organisations for interviews with members of the Royal Family to talk about their work and related issues.
Requests for interviews must be submitted in written form to Royal Communications with a detailed explanation of the reason for the interview, its intended focus and areas of questioning, the proposed interviewer and any other supporting information such as recording deadline. Royal diaries are booked weeks, if not months in advance, so at least three weeks' notice should be given.
Some members of the Royal Family will give written interviews, or write occasional articles under their own name.
Please note that The Queen does not give interviews or write articles.
It’s pathetic how Donald Trump’s base falls for these memes or articles on right-wing media sites, then has the gall to attack legitimate news organizations as being purveyors of “fake news,” while at the same time disseminating fake news.
So, basically it all boils down to this:
No one outside the Royal Family knows how Queen Elizabeth II feels about our current President. Considering some of the crass things he said while Princess Diana still lived and the more recent comments about the Queen’s daughters-in-law, I do not believe that she particularly likes Trump. I mean, Elizabeth is very proper, refined, and classy - what people now would call “old-school” - so I really don’t think that Her Majesty thinks that a guy who says he can grab women by “the pussy” because he is wealthy is a person with “a good heart.”
But that’s just my gut feeling based on what I know of the Queen.
Interesting. The question always is, 'how do we vet this...' and such effusive praise IS suspect. Beyond that, anyone could 'shop' a photo and put words to it - I trace footnotes [forever, it seems] and put all to the question. Thank you for a well reasoned piece.
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