The president of the Federal Reserve (Fed), Jerome Powell, has been the victim of a prank by some Russian comedians, who impersonated the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, and managed to extract information about his vision of the US economy.
The video was shown today on Russian state television, but according to a Fed spokesman it is a conversation that took place last January. “It was a friendly conversation and it took place in the context of our support for the Ukrainian people in this challenging time. No sensitive or confidential information was discussed,” they say from the institution.
From the central bank they have highlighted that the broadcast video “appears to have been edited”so it has not confirmed whether what was disseminated is true or has been intentionally manipulated.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell was pranked by a fake Zelensky Zoom call. pic.twitter.com/S0seKRYbgA
— Scott🍁Trades (@Scottrades) April 27, 2023
In any case, the words spoken by Powell in the videos released they do not go beyond the official version that the Fed issued in January, with several interest rate hikes planned for the following months and a slowdown in the economy that could lead to a technical recession.
The joke was made by the Russian comedian couple Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In recent years, these comedians have recorded similar videos with international figures: In 2020 they posed as the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, in front of the Polish President, Andrzej Duda. They have also pranked French President Emmanuel Macron and former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Energy Secretary Rick Perry.
Even personalities from the world of culture, such as the writer of the ‘Harry Potter’ saga, JK Rowling, was tricked by the pranksters, who again posed as the Ukrainian president.
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2023-04-27 18:26:23
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