Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence on Tuesday said he never made a comment that was attributed to him on the internet after his visit Monday to the White House. A university official called the quote, which was critical of "coastal elite media" and gained widespread exposure on Twitter, "fabricated."
Lawrence and the rest of the Tigers met with President Donald Trump on Monday and feasted on a buffet of fast food, which Trump said was a product of the ongoing partial government shutdown in Washington. The supposed quote — which contained Lawrence's Instagram handle — popped up online afterward and went viral:
Bravo #TrevorLawrence for sticking the truth to the haters and #MSM #FakeNews. Unbelievable how much @ClemsonFB appreciated what @POTUS did for them in this partial shutdown. And of course the haters had to find fault. I say to them 🖕. And that’s not vegan. pic.twitter.com/woTRt2t4Cs
— S.F. (@Sportexec) January 15, 2019
Lawrence's denial was categorical.
I never said this by the way... I don’t know where it came from.
— Trevor Lawrence (@Trevorlawrencee) January 15, 2019
However the trip to the White House was awesome! https://t.co/dhYzZpSNUD
Ross Taylor, assistant athletic director for Clemson football communications, told The Associated Press that Lawrence was shown the post on Tuesday. "Everything that is presented in that meme is fabricated," Taylor was quoted by the AP as saying.
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The original post has been deleted. The poster said he ran with the meme after getting it from another person.
I made a mistake. Someone sent me the meme. I didn’t fact check. That’s on me. pic.twitter.com/UGoBiVJZT1
— Cloyd Rivers Burns (@CloydRiversBurn) January 15, 2019
Lawrence did comment on the spread as he was leaving the event, but he said none of what was in the meme.
"It was awesome. We had McDonald's and everything. It was good," he said in a video posted on TMZ.com.
He made another comment Tuesday — emojis, actually — as he replied to a tweet by rapper Quavo, who took a dim few of what Trump served his guests:
— Trevor Lawrence (@Trevorlawrencee) January 16, 2019
Lawrence also said in the TMZ video that he hopes to return to the White House multiple times as a national champion. Bet on the menus for those visits receiving scrutiny.
