Reddit user 'HanA**holeSolo,' who claimed that he was the first one to upload the video of of President Donald Trump body-slamming a man with the CNN logo superimposed on his head, has finally apologized for the video.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Redditor who created the gif took to the site's message board Tuesday and issued a public apology in a post that has since been removed.
The user wrote, "I would like to apologize to the members on the reddit community for getting this site and this sub embroiled in a controversy that should never have happened. I would also like to apologize for the posts made that were racist, bigoted, and anti-semitic. I am in no way this kind of person," clarifying that the gif was just a "prank" that had been misconstrued as "calling for violence."
Adding, "I do not advocate violence against the press and the meme I posted was in no way advocating that in any way, shape or form. The meme was created purely as satire, it was not meant to be a call to violence against CNN or any other news affiliation. I had no idea anyone would take it and put sound to it and then have it put up on the President's Twitter feed. It was a prank, nothing more."
The user added that he had the "highest respect for the journalist community" and commended reporters for putting their "lives on the line every day.
The apology comes one day after CNN was able to identify the person behind the username and attempted to contact him, but calls and emails were not returned by the user.
CNN responded to Trump's tweet by issuing the following statement, "It is a sad day when the President of the United States encourages violence against reporters. Clearly, Sarah Huckabee Sanders lied when she said the President had never done so. Instead of preparing for his overseas trip, his first meeting with Vladimir Putin, dealing with North Korea and working on his health care bill, he is instead involved in juvenile behavior far below the dignity of his office. We will keep doing our jobs. He should start doing his.
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