Viral Donald Trump comments on killer lemonade are fabricated

Published on December 21, 2023 at 18:11
3 min read
By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA

Social media users are sharing four supposed screenshots that appear to quote Donald Trump as claiming people are dying from drinking lemonade -- a reference to a highly caffeinated product that has been linked in lawsuits to the deaths of two people -- and blaming this on President Joe Biden. But the captions are fabricated and appear to have originated with a comedy writer; the former president made no such comments.

"Everything is bad under Biden. Even the lemonade is killing people. Did you see that? People drink lemonade and die," Trump is quoted as saying in what appear to be subtitles on screenshots from a speech.

"The lemonade didn't kill you when I was President. It was tasty and fun to drink. We loved the lemonade, didn't we?" he is further claimed to have said.

"We did, but not under Biden. Bacon is more money. Gas is more money. The lemonade is more money and it kills you. When life hands you lemons, Joe Biden kills you with them."

Screenshot from X taken December 20, 2023

The four captioned images rocketed across Instagram, X and TikTok starting December 15, 2023 -- days after the family of a man who died after drinking three servings of a heavily caffeinated beverage at the fast-casual chain restaurant Panera Bread filed a lawsuit against the company. A similar lawsuit in October also faulted the drink, called "Charged Lemonade," for the death of a college student with a heart condition.

But there is no record AFP could find of Trump making any such statement. AFP reached out to the Trump campaign for comment, but no response was forthcoming.

The purported screenshots pull images from a YouTube live stream of Trump's December 13, 2023 event in Coralville, Iowa (archived here). C-SPAN and other outlets also carried his remarks (archived here).

But the former president never mentioned lemonade during the speech, according to the video and transcript. At what appears to be the moment in question -- identifiable by Trump's facial expressions and gestures -- Trump was attacking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for purported opposition to tariffs on China and criticizing Joe Biden for "sleeping."

Screenshot from X taken December 20, 2023

Screenshots from YouTube taken December 20, 2023

The made-up quotes appear to have originated with Keaton Patti, who posted them to Instagram and X on December 15, writing: "I knew he'd get to the Panera lemonade at some point."

Patti's website and Instagram profile -- and his bio on other websites including Amazon -- indicate that he is a writer and comedian who works for the late-night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" (archived here and here). He has also contributed to satirical outlets such as The Onion.

Patti did not respone to AFP's request for comment.

Trump remains the frontrunner to become the Republican Party's nominee for president despite being embroiled in several criminal investigations, potentially setting him up for an election rematch against Biden in 2024.

AFP has debunked other misinformation about US politics here.

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