We hear a lot about “fake news.” And it’s no doubt a problem that no one really knows how to deal with simply. By the time we hear about a story being fake news it doesn’t matter. It’s too late.

People rarely read beyond headlines or initial postulations from blue checkmark accounts stating something as fact. Most never follow up on a story they initially saw, which has always been the biggest problem with story corrections or retractions.

So, if you were on social media earlier today and saw this tweet, you might be under the impression that Rep. Darrell Issa (R – CA) was avoiding protesters outside his office on Tuesday.

Congressman @DarrellIssa is on the roof of his district office in California avoiding his constituents. No joke. pic.twitter.com/DgwwLl72zY

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) May 30, 2017

The rumor that Issa was hiding and doing this “bizarre roof thing,” was none other than Issa’s sore loser opponent whom Issa will face off against in 2018, Mike Levin, a California lawyer.

Yes, this is really @DarrellIssa on the roof of his district office building. Too afraid to come speak with assembled constituents below. pic.twitter.com/wCYRjO8Ev8

— Mike Levin (@MikeLevin) May 30, 2017

Those two tweets alone were retweeted more than 20,000 times and liked by almost 35,000 Twitter accounts. Consider the story set: Issa is a coward who hides on rooftops to avoid his Orange County constituents.

The idea that Issa would “hide” from his constituents by going to a rooftop seemed a little too weird even for him.

A friend pointed out rather quickly it looked like he was taking a photo and accurately called the subsequent events before they even played out, saying:

“It looks like he’s probably taking a picture of the crowd. He’ll probably tweet out an objection within the hour that will get ignored.”

And that’s exactly what happened:

Spent the morning talking with constituents gathered outside the office today, then popped upstairs to take a quick pic! pic.twitter.com/K2CFdenOIj

— Darrell Issa (@DarrellIssa) May 30, 2017

Retweeted a whopping 323 times and liked by less than 600 accounts.

And thus, a fake news narrative is born. The truth clearly doesn’t matter anymore.