A TIME magazine cover with a photo of former U.S. President Donald Trump and the headline “Worst. President. Ever. “ is fabricated, a spokesperson for the publication told Reuters. The fabricated screenshot has been circulating since at least 2017.
The fake cover shared on social media (here), (bit.ly/3TffHnb), (bit.ly/3yxPgj4) has a coverline that reads: “How DONALD TRUMP has disgraced the highest office in the nation.”
Some social media users appear to believe the recently-shared image is authentic, with some commenting: “Time mag has a very long history of immortalizing the depraved and vilifying the good. Time mag is nothing but a communist rag” (bit.ly/3LoLT5U).
A TIME spokesperson told Reuters via email the image of the cover is not authentic.
The same fake cover has resurfaced on several occasions since at least 2017 (bit.ly/3Z2NMZb), (bit.ly/42b48S8), (bit.ly/3FjQAK3), and it was debunked in 2018 and 2020 by other fact-checkers (here), (here), (here).
Reuters also found no evidence that TIME ever published such a cover. It is not in the magazine’s online archive (time.com/vault/year/2016/), and a Google search for keywords provided no credible results (bit.ly/3ZHeLKI).
Reuters has previously debunked other fabricated TIME covers (here), (here), (here).
VERDICT
False. TIME magazine did not publish a cover calling Trump the worst president ever.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work (here) .
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.