Quote Originally Posted by Alan View Post
It was actually an Instagram post by someone in the entourage labeled "Lets go for pizza and a Coca Cola", which was then picked up by media for their own purposes.
Posting it on Instagram with a we're just having fun headline and then quietly calling the media's attention to it with a whispered narrative of "this is what really happened" is called "plausible deniability". The general public is shown the publicity stunt and outraged headlines the celebrity wants, and the celebrity's staff can politely deny that they had anything to do with the photo being misrepresented.

I'm more cynical than you about this politician, and you're apparently more cynical about the media than I am. But the truth is neither of us will ever know for sure what really happened or who promoted the "forced to eat on sidewalk" narrative.