News
Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu
Jan 12, 2021
Getty
Updates to the US Department of State website sparked a frenzy on social media after biography pages for President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were changed to say their terms had ended.
This follows a pro-Trump mob breaching and occupying the US Capitol while lawmakers were certifying the Electoral College results, which has led to calls for the president to be impeached.
The widely shared page stated: "Donald J. Trump's term ended on 2021-01-11."
In addition, another screengrab said: “Micheal R. Pence’s term ended on 2021-01-11.”
While some speculated it may have been the result of a glitch on the website, BuzzFeed News reported the alteration to the president’s biography had been made by a "disgruntled employee". CNN also corroborated this claim.
The pages became unavailable after the changes were flagged.
An internal investigation is now reportedly looking into how the incident occurred.
@briantylercohen Change URL to Pence. Same thing. https://t.co/rkuNFtn48b— based (@based) 1610395616
@akarl_smith Now it just says this. As of ten minutes ago, it still showed 2:49 PM GMT. The mystery grows deeper. https://t.co/ak9VTSKWUP— Deborah Copaken (@Deborah Copaken) 1610397663
Social media users quickly shared memes about the alleged staff member who updated the website.
The State Department social media manager deciding to end the Trump presidency: https://t.co/G3jYWhWYIh— Sam Stryker (@Sam Stryker) 1610396142
Live footage of the State Department staffer ending Donald Trump’s presidential term today. https://t.co/H9rqkbpuOs— NUFF (@NUFF) 1610396868
The State Department staffer who changed Trumps presidential end date https://t.co/QD6TcWSLsw— Designated Dan (@Designated Dan) 1610396820
disgruntled staffer changing the state department’s website https://t.co/l7ROUBhD19— blaire erskine (@blaire erskine) 1610401166
Others joked about the alteration.
From the official U.S. Department of State's website: "Donald J. Trump's term ended on 2021-01-11 19:41:28." are t… https://t.co/CzOfVvTiFQ— morgan campbell (@morgan campbell) 1610396720
breaking: state department website inexplicably posts Donald Trump's Difficult Person Test https://t.co/rEAhzIEBnR— brooks sterritt (@brooks sterritt) 1610397008
Trump lookin at the State Department website https://t.co/INbkGLtYcq— SwiftOnSecurity (@SwiftOnSecurity) 1610397197
And some wished it were true.
me desperately wanting to believe the state department website accidentally told us trump is resigning https://t.co/CwNDEj34rO— heath (he/him) (@heath (he/him)) 1610396082
President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in at the inauguration on January 20.
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