Vice’s Motherboard site has retracted two stories about supposed drama brewing between Disney and Donald Trump over his appearance in the company’s Hall Of Presidents attraction. According to an editorial post on the site, the two articles—“Here’s the Secret Backstage Trump Drama at Walt Disney World’s Hall of Presidents,” from May, and “Behind the Scenes of Disney’s Donald Trump ‘Hall of Presidents’ Installation,” from earlier this week—had anonymous sourcing that “fell short of our standards.” Vice has apologized for the errors.
Disney responded to the stories earlier this week, issuing a statement promising that a Trump animatronic would soon be featured in the hall, and that—contrary to anonymous sources that said the White House and Disney were bickering over the issue—the statue would deliver a speech recorded by the current West Wing incumbent, a practice that’s been a regular part of the attraction since Bill Clinton recorded one in 1993.
The Hall Of Presidents has become a strangely contentious attraction for Disney in recent years, as America’s political divisiveness deepens. In any case, the company says the statue will be installed some time in “late 2017.”