The top 5 April Fools’ jokes from politicians

From presidential candidates to sitting congressmen, politicians across the board partook in some April Fools’ Day jokes.

Some cracked jokes and pulled pranks in the spirit of keeping up with traditions, while others used it as an opportunity to further their agendas.

From former President Donald Trump to Sen. John Fetterman, here are the top five April Fools’ pranks U.S. politicians pulled.

Former President Donald Trump sent an email message to his supporters, saying, “I’m suspending my campaign.” This was accompanied by a link that redirected users to a site asking them to donate money to his 2024 campaign.

“Did you really think I’d suspend my campaign? Happy April Fools Day!” it said in capital letters.

In the email, Trump refers to a fundraiser held by President Joe Biden in New York City last week, where Biden was joined by former Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Biden raked in $25 million during the star-studded event.

“Listen, friend, Joe Biden just raised over $25 MILLION from the liberal ‘elite’ in New York City,” the email said. “That’s why I’m asking for 100,000 patriots to chip in at least $5 RIGHT NOW to help me SAVE AMERICA.”

Trump lags behind Biden in fundraising, according to the latest filings.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre began her Monday press briefing with an announcement.

“So, President Biden is scheduled to announce he is revoking the Hatch Act,” she said, adding, it was “a gift” for all the reporters present. “Now I can actually take all your questions about 2024.”

The Hatch Act is meant to keep federal government officials from interfering in elections or approaching its work in a partisan manner. Jean-Pierre has been accused of violating the law by the U.S. Office of the Special Counsel, an independent agency that enforces the Hatch Act, for using the term “mega MAGA” during a briefing.

One reporter chimed in with a sarcastic, “Good one,” before Jean-Pierre gave up the act. “April Fools. April Fools. April Fools,” she said. The press secretary patted her own back, too: “I thought it was pretty slick of me.”

Rumors of Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., using a body double were swirling around on the internet last year. For conspiracy theorists, it was the only explanation for why Fetterman looked different in various photos. One of the viral images showed Fetterman’s tattoos had allegedly disappeared, as Forbes reported. At the time, Fetterman in a post on Sept. 19, 2023, jokingly gave a “big thanks” to his body double, “Sen. Guy Incognito, for taking hallway questions for me.”

On April 1, he added fuel to the rumors, again saying, “The body double is real.”

Maybe you’re telling the truth, senator. But the conclusive evidence is still lacking.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., lost three fingers, except his pinky finger and thumb, on his right hand while grinding meat in his family’s butcher shop as a kid.

But he claimed Monday his fingers “finally grew back!”

Rep. Seth Moulton, R-Mass., posted a video of him reacting to “Mean Tweets” against him and his proposal to invest in high-speed rail.

“High Speed Rail isn’t worth building,” he said. “APRIL FOOLS! Not everyone loves my new bill to bring it to the U.S., so my staff picked a few mean (and funny) replies for me to react to.”

One user wrote: “What’s next? High speed covered wagons?”

“A high-speed covered wagon is called a car, dude,” Moulton quipped back.

Another user wrote, “We revolted against Europe for a reason.” But Moulton fact-checked the statement, saying, “Europe literally has high speed trains because we rebuilt Europe.”

“We just got controlled by the airline and the auto lobby here in the U.S. We broke our interstates and didn’t build high speed rail systems.”