Real estate mogul Donald Trump found himself on the receiving end of a Twitter prank on Monday and now says he’s open to suing the social networking user who set him up.
Trump was made into an online laughing stock when he agreed to adhere to a request from a Twitter user who asked the billionaire to retweet one of his posts in memory of his late parents.
“My parents who passed away always said you were big inspiration. Can you pls RT for their memory?” Twitter user @feckhead asked in a tweet that included an outdated photo of an older couple.
Hi @realDonaldTrump. My parents who passed away always said you were big inspiration.Can you pls RT for their memory? pic.twitter.com/veBxFNXnOd
— Philip Bradbury (@feckhead) September 29, 2014
Trump soon after obliged to the request and re-sent the image to his 2.7 million Twitter followers. Unbeknownst to him, however, the attached photo was that of not just an ordinary couple, but rather infamous husband and wife serial killers Fred and Rosemary West.
Over 2,000 people retweeted Trump’s gaffe before he was made aware of the prank and pulled it off of his Twitter feed.
“I thought I was being nice to somebody re[garding] their parents,” he later tweeted. “I guess this teaches you not to be nice or trusting. Sad!”
“Some jerk fraudulently tweeted that his parents said I was a big inspiration to them + pls RT—out of kindness I retweeted. Maybe I’ll see,” Trump wrote.
I thought I was being nice to somebody re their parents. I guess this teaches you not to be nice or trusting. Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 29, 2014
Some jerk fraudulently tweeted that his parents said I was a big inspiration to them + pls RT—out of kindness I retweeted. Maybe I’ll sue.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 29, 2014
On his part, the man behind the prank — self-described “drinker” and “failed comedian” Philip Bradbury, wrote that the exchange was “Possibly the greatest thing ever to happen to me on Twitter.”
My more vile trolls have gone a bit quiet today since that idiot who abused @stellacreasy was jailed for 18 weeks. Funny that. #cowards
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) September 29, 2014
Other social media users have since followed in Bradbury’s footsteps by sending Trump similar requests over Twitter, albeit a bit more blatantly. So far, however, the high-tempered reality host has failed to take the bait from tweets concerning other “deceased family members,” including serial killer Ted Bundy and infamous Mongolian conqueror Genghis Khan.
Hi @realDonaldTrump, My brother loves your work. Can he get an RT? pic.twitter.com/QAJ0paoP7f
— George Berridge (@George_Berridge) September 29, 2014
Hi @realDonaldTrump, my great uncle Genghis recently died making love to a toaster. Please can you RT his photo pic.twitter.com/dihwCfNeq4
— Darryl (@J3MMO) September 29, 2014
Mr. and Mrs. West were convicted of torturing, raping and killing 10 girls during a two-decade span before being caught in the 1990s. Fred West committed suicide while awaiting trial and his wide is currently serving a life sentence in the UK for the 10 murders.