Democrats scramble to APOLOGIZE after comparing Bible-holding Trump to Hitler (but only for sharing doctored pic)

Liberals have denounced President Donald Trump’s photo-op with a Bible, rushing to compare him to Adolf Hitler. Many were left red-faced after the photo they used turned out to be fake.

The latest fake-news fest on social media was triggered by the US president’s controversial walk to St. John’s Church on Monday. The historic Washington DC church near the White House was damaged by a group of rioters the night before. Trump’s move was preceded by a sweeping police clean-up of the area, in which both protesters and journalists got caught up.

READ MORE: ‘Wanton thuggery’: Outraged Australia to probe US police attack on its journalists covering White House protest

The scenes stirred up a storm of online reactions – but a photo of Trump posing with a Bible next to the church as if to make a statement to the protesters eclipsed all of the above. Not content with simply bashing Trump for alleged police heavy-handedness, the liberals proceeded to read into the stunt’s meaning.

Perhaps the most bizarre and conspiratorial thing to come out of this was the idea that Trump has paid secret homage to Hitler. And lo and behold, some photographic evidence was found: a photo of Hitler seemingly holding a Bible in the same exact way.

“Anyone who thinks he had not seen this picture and isn’t using it as a signal, is in complete denial about what’s going on here,” tweeted Marianne Williamson, a former Democratic presidential primary contender.

©  Marianne Williamson / Twitter / screenshot

“Two peas in a pod,”jeered former state senator Richard Ojeda, currently running for the US Senate.

©  Richard Ojeda / Twitter / screenshot

Prominent online Resistance activist and actress Debra Messing wrote that Trump’s Bible photos were “a dog whistle to white nationalists and Nazis.”

The theory suffered a huge blow, however, when it turned out the Hitler photograph was fake. Someone, somewhere had Photoshopped the Bible into the dictator’s hand.

Liberal writer Greg Olear decided on the following non-apology: “The Hitler/Bible going around is Photoshopped. That so many people (including me initially) fell for it, is itself an indictment of Trump and all he stands for.”

Actor Matthew Lillard tried to rationalize his mistake: “I posted a photo of Hitler juxtaposition Trump holding a Bible. It fit my narrative, it suited my anger... it was propaganda. I take responsibility for that. I took it down.”

“I just deleted a picture of Hitler that I learned was photo shopped. I apologize. Too much coffee,” wrote Williamson.

Trump’s supporters had a field day roasting the blunder.

“This is easily debunked. How many on the Trump-hating left will fall for this #FakeNews? How many already have? How is this helpful?” wondered radio host Joe Pagliarulo.

Independent journalist Tim Pool summed up the discourse in one tweet: “Memes are becoming real life.”

Twitter itself eventually flagged Messing's post with the “manipulated media” tag, noting that “BuzzFeed reporters and Snopes concluded that an image circulating of Adolf Hitler holding a Bible is edited.”

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