Did Trump just pick an 'illegal' running mate for president?

Don't believe everything you hear in this 2016 presidential election cycle.

Especially when it's news about Donald Trump coming from his competition who are among the bottom-feeders in the polls.

Case in point is a phony news release this weekend from John Kasich's campaign, stating Trump has finally decided on his running mate.

Donald Trump

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"In a bold and visionary move characteristic of everything he does, today terrific billionaire Donald Trump named Russian President Vladimir Putin as his running mate in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign," the faux press release said. "Trump pledged that together with Putin he would 'Make Tyranny Great Again.'"

"I think I would just get along very well with Vladimir Putin. I just think so. People say what do you mean? I just think we would," said Trump in the fake release.

The paper, issued just days after Trump and Putin exchanged courteous remarks about each other, indicates Putin "readily accepted Trump's offer" to be vice president, saying the businessman is "a really brilliant and talented person, without a doubt ... he's the absolute leader in the presidential race."

The Kasich campaign also posted video of a phony news report about the running-mate announcement, containing some real quotations from Trump along with a bare-chested image of Putin.

Watch the video:

Kasich even created a Trump-Putin2016 website to make it appear somewhat official.

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A quote at the bottom of that site says, "Don't mind the constitutional problems of our candidacy. This campaign will be terrific! Huge! A merger of two great powers!"