‘Wrong Theresa May’ awaits Donald Trump apology after tweets
Theresa Scrivener, from Bognor, was accidentally tagged in a Trump tweet intended for PM
The woman Donald Trump mistakenly tagged in a tweet while attempting to berate UK Prime Minister Theresa May on social media has spoken for the first time about the bizarre incident, insisting the US President should apologise.
After the Prime Minister criticised Trump for retweeting controversial anti-Muslim videos from far-right hate group Britain First on Wednesday, calling it “wrong”, the President hit back with a strongly worded response, saying “@Theresa_May, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!”
Keen-eyed Twitter users had noted, however, that this was the second posting of the tweet, after the original - which was quickly deleted - had tagged the user @TheresaMay, rather than the PM’s official account @Theresa_May.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
@TheresaMay is the handle of Theresa Scrivener, a 41-year-old woman who lives in Bognor and has six Twitter followers.
“I’m just waiting for a call from the White House with an apology,” Theresa Scrivener, whose middle name is May, told the BBC.
“I was in bed by half 10 last night and oblivious to it all. It has been very surreal. I haven’t been able to leave my house. I’ve been bombarded and been contacted by press from around the world. If I wanted to be famous I would have gone on X Factor.”
“I’m just glad he was not contacting me to say he was going to war with North Korea.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Scrivener added “It’s amazing to think that the world’s most powerful man managed to press the wrong button.”
Many Twitter users shared the same sentiment:
This is not the first time Trump has erroneously tagged someone on Twitter. In January this year, he inadvertently tagged Ivanka Majic, a digital consultant living in Brighton, in a tweet inteded for his daughter Ivanka Trump.
Majic’s username is @Ivanka, while Ivanka Trump’s is @IvankaTrump.
-
Homo Floresiensis: Earth’s real life ‘hobbits’Under the Radar New research suggests that ‘early human pioneers’ in Australia interbred with archaic species of hobbits at least 60,000 years ago
-
Homes by renowned architectsFeature Featuring a Leonard Willeke Tudor Revival in Detroit and modern John Storyk design in Woodstock
-
Looming drone ban has farmers and farm-state Republicans anxiousIN THE SPOTLIGHT As congressional China-hawks work to limit commercial drone sales from Beijing, a growing number of conservative lawmakers are sounding an agricultural alarm
-
‘It’s critical that Congress get involved’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Appeals court disqualifies US Attorney Alina HabbaSpeed Read The former personal attorney to President Donald Trump has been unlawfully serving as US attorney for New Jersey, the ruling says
-
The military: When is an order illegal?Feature Trump is making the military’s ‘most senior leaders complicit in his unlawful acts’
-
Ukraine and Rubio rewrite Russia’s peace planFeature The only explanation for this confusing series of events is that ‘rival factions’ within the White House fought over the peace plan ‘and made a mess of it’
-
The powerful names in the Epstein emailsIn Depth People from a former Harvard president to a noted linguist were mentioned
-
Honduras votes amid Trump push, pardon vowspeed read President Trump said he will pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving 45 years for drug trafficking
-
Congress seeks answers in ‘kill everybody’ strike reportSpeed Read Lawmakers suggest the Trump administration’s follow-up boat strike may be a war crime
-
Andriy Yermak: how weak is Zelenskyy without his right-hand man?Today's Big Question Resignation of Ukrainian president’s closest ally marks his ‘most politically perilous moment yet’