'Simpsons' Showrunner Condemns 'Horrifying' Fake Trump Assassination Prediction

Whoever created a fake 'Simpsons' image, falsely suggesting the show predicted Donald Trump would be assassinated is drawing the ire of the show's head honcho, who calls it a sick move.

The drama kicked off shortly after Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on the ex-Prez -- a social media user posted a doctored animated image of Trump from "The Simpsons," showing him in a casket with the caption, "First time I've seen a 'Simpsons' prediction fail."

Now, this entire premise is based on misinformation (more on that in a minute) ... but "The Simpsons" showrunner Matt Selman is still slamming the image in the strongest possible terms.

Matt tells TMZ ... debunking the meme as illegitimate isn't enough, in this case ... he also wants to defend the legendary show's brand of humor.

Beyond the completely classless nature of the bogus meme, MS says he's baffled so many people appeared to think it was authentic.

FWIW, this image of cartoon Trump in a casket NEVER appeared in an episode -- and "The Simpsons" also never had an episode with a plotline about DT being killed ... people simply paired the falsified pic with that claim, and then the Internet did what it does.

Matt adds, "Anyone who thinks 'The Simpsons' would include such horrifying content on a family TV show doesn’t really watch the show or have any understanding of 'The Simpsons' at all." In other words, we don't play like that!

What made the phony assassination meme believable for many is the fact the show has "predicted" a lot of real-life events over the course of its record-setting run -- but, in this case, they never called this horrible event.

BTW ... this is not the first high-profile news story some boob on social media tried to tie to 'Simpsons' lore.