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Viral April Fools Day post spooks Utah students and angers Governor Herbert
Apr 1, 2020, 7:30 PM | Updated: 8:11 pm
SALT LAKE CITY – An April Fools Day post forced Utah Gov. Gary Herbert to take time from his daily coronavirus updates to assure Utahns the post was a fake.
The April fools day post was made to look like a screenshot from KSL, with a headline reading, “All Students to Repeat Current Grade Grade Next Year, declares Utah Governor Gary Herbert.”
But it was all a fake. The April Fools Day post was all in good fun.
“Today it’s been reported that all students are to repeat their current grade. I want to remind everybody it’s April Fools. [The post] is an April Fools joke,” Herbert said.
That joke had people calling the state to ask if it was true.
“If anyone has to repeat their current grade, it has nothing to do with the governor. We’re not ordering that to take place at all … We’ve been inundated with calls, and [the post] is … not true,” Herbert reiterated.
Herbert, as well as other state officials, also tried to dispel the prank on Twitter.
It’s unclear who created it. Though it looked like it came from KSL, a search of our webpages shows that we never ran a story like that.
Now is not the time for irresponsible April Fools’ Day jokes. I am tremendously grateful to our teachers for their tireless efforts to continue educating Utah students — and I’m impressed by the dedication of our students who are learning from home. https://t.co/EeVr0GbbLW
— Gov. Gary Herbert (@GovHerbert) April 1, 2020