Iranian News Agency Rips Off Satirical "Onion" Report

(WASHINGTON) -- Iran’s Fars news agency, the media mouthpiece of the Iranian regime, posted a short story on its website Friday, citing a poll that said rural white Americans prefer Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to President Barack Obama.

“Gallup Poll: Rural Whites Prefer Ahmadinejad to Obama,” the headline read.

However, the headline and the story that followed were identical to a story posted four days ago on The Onion, the satirical news website.

“I like [Ahmadinejad] better,” the mock article quotes West Virginia resident Dale Swiderski as saying, adding that he, along with 77 percent of rural Caucasian voters, would rather go to a baseball game or have a beer with Ahmadinejad. “He takes national defense seriously, and he’d never let some gay protesters tell him how to run his country like Obama does.”

The Onion’s fake poll also said 60 percent of rural whites respected Ahmadinejad for not hiding the fact that he’s a Muslim, a swipe at the almost 20 percent of American registered voters who believe Obama is a Muslim.

There was no mention of The Onion in the Fars article and not long after it was posted, the Fars editors appear to have realized what they’d copied and removed it.

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