FACT CHECK: New “TIME” Magazine Cover Labels Donald Trump “Worst President Ever”

A Facebook account posted a picture of a purported new TIME magazine cover that shows a picture of Donald Trump with the headline, “Worst. President. Ever.” It sounds a little too far-fetched for TIME, right? That’s because it is fake! There are a few tips to recognize a genuine TIME magazine cover, and this Donald Trump cover doesn’t meet the criteria.

TIME Names Trump Worst President Ever?

RPA Politics’ Facebook page shared an image of a supposed new TIME magazine cover that takes a dig at President Trump. The cover shows a partially skeletonized image of Donald Trump with some shocking typography.

The eye-catching headline states that President Trump is the “Worst. President. Ever.” with a subheading that reads, “How Donald Trump has disgraced the highest office in the nation.”

If you thought that was scandalizing enough already, there’s a laundry list of appalling names on the side. The alleged cover goes on to call Trump (in no particular order) a “Divider,” “Liar,” “Rapist,” “Thief,” “Usurper,” “Manipulator,” “Collaborator,” and a “Traitor.”

Google Trends recorded a massive spike in the search volume related to Donald Trump and TIME magazine since April 22. The interest peaked around Sunday because of the magazine’s April 23 issue, which had the real cover featuring Donald Trump.

Credits: Google Trends

The alleged cover shown on RPA Politics’ Facebook page received mixed reactions in the comments section. Many, who thought this cover was real, have sworn off TIME magazine. Meanwhile, others have taken this opportunity to declare their trust in Trump.

There are also those who think this is the best TIME issue yet! Many don’t believe it’s a real cover but are rooting for it to become real.

For every real TIME magazine cover, there are 10 fake ones. And obviously, this new cover circulating the Internet falls into the latter category.

RPA Politics aims “to be a medium for people to be exposed to political information not reported on mainstream media.” The website claims it caters to an African-American audience. However, the pieces presented in it can be more polarizing than informative. A glance at some of the articles made it hard to gauge fact from fiction.

Nevertheless, there’s no doubt the alleged new TIME magazine cover of Trump is not real.

With the number of fake covers going around, the good folks at TIME have provided its readers ways to identify a true TIME magazine cover.

How to Identify a TIME Magazine Cover?

TIME made headlines last year when it requested Trump to remove the fake 2009 TIME cover proudly hanging at his golf clubs. Back then, the magazine published a guide on how to spot a fake TIME cover. So, we’ve compared the purported Trump cover and checked off the boxes.

The first identification is the logo. TIME’s logo has undergone variations during the almost-century since its inception. The latest form of the logo has been in use since the ‘90s, and it’s how we’ve come to identify TIME in the present day.

Most fake covers get the logo wrong, even in the slightest. The creators of the fake covers tend to get the font size wrong, unlike the seasoned designers at the actual publication.

The scale of the logo on the cover shared by RPA is slightly off. It seems like it was taken from an existing TIME cover and pasted over Trump’s face.

But the fake cover does get the iconic red border somewhat right, including the thinner white border between the scarlet outline and the cover image. Most fake covers tend to forget this little detail. However, the red border appears thinner than the original, perhaps to make it look like it was a screenshot of the original.

The typography of the fake cover gives away its lack of veracity. TIME has transformed its cover style to suit the digital medium. “Less is more” appears to be its new style for a more clean and impactful visual.

The fake cover doesn’t have the typographical style of the current TIME format of shorter, emphatic words. And no matter the political leanings of the editor or staff, TIME (or any other reputable publication) wouldn’t resort to overt name-calling on its cover or content.

Calling the current Commander-in-Chief the “Worst” among other accusatory names that haven’t been proven is hardly TIME’s style.

Trump’s TIME Count

President Trump has been featured on the cover of TIME 16 times and counting! The magazine has a high standard of creative impact and employs the best photographers and designers for it.

For Trump’s “2016 Person of the Year” cover, they enlisted Nadav Kander to take the pictures. Kander had previously photographed Barack Obama for the “2012 Person of the Year” issue.

Some of the other covers featuring Trump depict an artistic representation of his political run.

The magazine featured a sketch of Trump with fiery hair for its January 22, 2018 cover, in commemoration of his first year as president.

The latest issue of TIME also has Trump on the cover, but not in the way the RPA Facebook page has shared.

TIME’s April 23, 2018, issue rehashes the “Nothing to See Here” cover from February 27, 2017, by the publication’s longtime artist, Tim O’Brien—but with a twist.

The new version of this artwork shows Trump in a flooded Oval Office. The headline is now changed to “Stormy,” to show the turbulent atmosphere in the White House.

The cover shared by RPA Politics is not one that will be featured in future issues either. TIME’s upcoming issues have multiple covers lined up to celebrate “The 100 Most Influential People.”

The April 30 issue will feature Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Kidman, Tarana Burke, and more, excluding Donald Trump.