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#Sharpiegate: Donald Trump memes hit Twitter after map ‘altered with pen’

The map appeared to have been altered to show the path of Hurricane Dorian extending into Alabama.
The map appeared to have been altered to show the path of Hurricane Dorian extending into Alabama.

Sharpie-themed memes flooded Twitter after Donald Trump brandished a map showing the projected path of Hurricane Dorian which appeared to have been altered with a marker pen.

The map, held up in the Oval Office by the president, appeared to carry a drawn-on black mark extending the forecast of the storm’s path into the south-eastern corner of Alabama.

It came after the president wrongly said on Sunday that Dorian was likely to hit Alabama, with some observers suspecting the map had been altered in an attempt to prove the claim was accurate.

The bizarre story prompted social media users to imagine ways a marker pen could be used to alter other images, using the hashtag #SharpieGate.

Some envisioned the pen being used to fill in the crowds at Mr Trump’s inauguration.

One user applied the technique to Mr Trump’s border wall – a campaign promise yet to be fulfilled by the president.

Elsewhere the Dow Jones was looking particularly strong thanks to the editing skills of one Twitter user.

Some thought the the pen could be used to make some cosmetic changes to Mr Trump’s appearance.

The president’s previous claim that the noise from wind turbines causes cancer – dismissed by the American Cancer Society – was illustrated in one image.

Even Mount Rushmore got the Sharpie treatment.

Asked about the map at a later event, Mr Trump insisted he did not know anything about it and had no explanation for who altered the map.