Pope Francis is warning about the dangers of fake news, and he should know: Earlier this year, he was reported — falsely — to have endorsed Donald Trump for U.S. president.
Cendant, for example, sued InterActive, accusing it of falsely implying that Cendant endorsed LendingTree when its site noted that many LendingTree brokers are Cendant franchises.
Rihanna and two of her corporate licensing companies subsequently launched legal action alleging that the use of her image for fashion clothing was not licensed and claimed those buying the T-shirt would falsely believe she had endorsed it.
This week, Harris released a response ad decrying it as "more lies" from "just another Washington politician". The response notes that Pittenger falsely claimed Trump had endorsed him on Twitter when he had not.
As The Post's fact-checker found, they even falsely claimed that some Democratic candidates endorsed the policy when they never did.
For example: The one falsely claiming that Pope Francis had endorsed Donald Trump, or the one alleging without basis that Hillary Clinton would be indicted just before the election.
The month before the voting, several thousand South Carolinians received fake Christmas cards purporting to be from Mr. Romney that endorsed polygamy and that falsely claimed to have been sent by a Mormon temple in Boston.
When he endorsed aerial spraying, he was falsely accused of plotting to make millions by basing planes at a remote airport he was accused of owning.
While plaintiffs' trademark certainly deserves protection against copycats and those who falsely claim that the New Kids have endorsed or sponsored them, such protection does not extend to rendering newspaper articles, conversations, polls and comparative advertising impossible.
My mom likes the pope, she likes Trump so she'll be pleased that the pope supports Trump," he said, in reference to a widely shared piece of "news" that falsely claimed the head of the Catholic church endorsed Donald Trump.
