President Donald Trump’s order to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America has already had one unexpected consequence: an unassuming doctor’s office in Florida is getting review-bombed.
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Trump issued the order as part of an escalation of his trade war, which has sharply raised taxes on Canadian imports for a wide variety of products. Some of the loudest opposition has come from the province of Ontario, which borders many northeastern states and whose conservative premier, Doug Ford, has threatened to take things further and possibly cut off international power transmission.
One surprise impact of the order has been sudden attention on a business that happens to bear the name Trump just gave to one of the Great Lakes: the Lake America Family Physicians doctor’s office in Clermont, Florida.
As of press time, a search for “Lake America” in either Google Maps or Apple Maps will take users to this quiet medical practice northwest of Orlando, which features a single doctor and two nurse practitioners.
Mere hours after Trump’s announcement went live, internet pranksters descended on the practice to leave fake reviews on Google.
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“Yo, is this Lake America? Trump sent me,” wrote Sam Smith.
“Shout out to Lake America Family Physicians for finally defeating Lake Ontario Family Physicians,” wrote Sylver Johnson.
Many of the pranksters seemed to recognize that actual negative reviews that could damage the business for something they had nothing to do with wouldn’t be fair.
“Gotta change the name to Lake Ontario family physicians, but I’ll still give it 5 stars,” wrote Hayden DeBonis.
“I was searching for Lake America ‘Lake Ontario,’ but it turned out to be a business in Florida,” wrote Ben Adamo. “It looks like a great spot, clean and friendly staff. So here’s a complimentary 5-star review.”
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