A video purportedly showing the deputy White House press secretary returning to work soon after his wife’s death has created a stir online. The undated video shows a purported bureaucrat named Theodore Barrett taking a press conference, much to the shock and sympathy of journalists present there.
“Good morning everybody. I apologise for being late, my wife just died," he is heard saying at the start of the video.
In the next two minutes, he answers questions about the tragedy while urging the reporters to stick to the questions about the government.
He tells the press that his wife died in a car crash. When someone asks him if he has told his kids about the incident, the press secretary replies that they were with his wife at the time of the crash. While his son survived, his daughter succumbed to the injuries, the man seen in the video replies.
The reporter then asks, “Any mention of the president’s comments about Kim Jong Un’s latest statement on North Korea’s nuclear facility?" To this he says, “I was not at the President’s morning briefing as I was identifying my wife’s body. But I will find out and would be happy to answer any questions later today."
Before ending the press conference, Theodore Barrett says that the next briefing might get delayed in case his wife’s funeral runs for long.
Truth Behind The Viral Video
This realistic-looking video is actually a spoof video made by The Onion, a media company that publishes satirical news.
The video was originally shared by The Onion on YouTube, with the title, “Press Secretary Spins Wife’s Death As A Positive".
However, as this video began circulating across social media many people believed it to be a real incident.
Commenting on this video on YouTube, a person observed, “The amount of times I’ve seen ‘alphas’ post this video saying that this is a true man is insane. I’m so glad this isn’t real at least."
Someone else remarked, “So glad this is a satirical skit from The Onion because this is totally believable as the way someone in his position might respond to a shocking situation like that."
Another person wrote, “It’s absolutely hilarious but also incredibly saddening that so many people actually thought this was legit. Like it’s clearly fake, but the situation isn’t one that is unbelievable."
The video has garnered over 3.7 million views on YouTube.
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