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Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally, late Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, in Waukesha, Wis. (AP) Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally, late Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, in Waukesha, Wis. (AP)

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally, late Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, in Waukesha, Wis. (AP)

Sara Swann
By Sara Swann August 8, 2022

Photo claiming ‘massive’ crowd at Trump’s Aug. 5 Wisconsin rally is actually from 2020

If Your Time is short

  • The photo is not from a Donald Trump rally in Wisconsin on Aug. 5, 2022.

  • The photo can be traced back to a November 2020 tweet from Eric Trump.

  • The crowd size and event layout in the photo differ from other photos shared by reporters at the rally.

Days before the Wisconsin primary, former President Donald Trump made a stop in Waukesha to throw his support behind Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels. The winner of the competitive primary Aug. 9 between Michels and Rebecca Kleefisch will face off against Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in November.

But recent social media posts used an outdated photo to tout the size of the crowd.

Conservative commentator Benny Johnson tweeted on Aug. 6 a photo depicting an event with a large crowd of people wearing red hats and red shirts. In the now-deleted tweet, Johnson claimed, "Trump’s enthusiasm is bigger than in 2016 — this is from last night in Wisconsin. Massive. Just massive."

An Aug. 6 Facebook post shared the same photo and claimed, "This is from last night in Wisconsin. MASSIVE!"

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

This photo is not from Donald Trump's Aug. 5 rally in Waukesha, Wis. (Facebook)

 

PolitiFact conducted a reverse image search of the photo and found Trump’s son, Eric Trump, shared it on Twitter in November 2020. At the time, he used the image of a large, apparently pro-Trump crowd to push the false claim that the presidential election was rigged.

Featured Fact-check

Molly Beck, a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, quote-tweeted Johnson’s now-deleted tweet and said the photo in question was not from the Aug. 5 rally. She also pointed to Eric Trump’s tweet as the source of the photo.

The scene depicted in this older photo does not match photos shared by reporters who were on site at the Aug. 5 Wisconsin rally. Media photos show a smaller crowd and a different event layout.

In the older photo, two large screens that read, "The best is yet to come!" can be seen. This was a slogan often used by Donald Trump during his 2020 campaign.

Meanwhile, media photos from the recent rally show two screens displaying the event’s speakers, including Trump, as well as a large, blue sign that said, "Save America!"

Additionally, photos from reporters show there were three bleachers of roughly the same size behind the stage at the event. But in the 2020 campaign photo, there is one large set of bleachers in the center and two smaller sets to the left and right.

Our ruling

Social media posts shared a photo from Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign and claimed it was of an Aug. 5, 2022, rally in Wisconsin.

The photo in question does not show the Aug. 5 rally and can be traced back to a November 2020 tweet from Eric Trump. It also conflicts with several photos taken by reporters on site at the Aug. 5 Wisconsin rally.

We rate this claim False.

Our Sources

Benny Johnson deleted tweet, Aug. 6, 2022

Facebook post, Aug. 6, 2022

Eric Trump tweet, Nov. 16, 2020

Molly Beck tweet, Aug. 6, 2022

Patrick Marley tweet, Aug. 5, 2022

Emilee Fannon tweet, Aug. 5, 2022

A.J. Bayatpour tweet, Aug. 5, 2022

A.J. Bayatpour tweet, Aug. 5, 2022

Various reverse image searches using Google, TinEye and Yandex, Aug. 8, 2022

Image searches of AP Images and Getty Images, Aug. 8, 2022

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Five takeaways from Friday’s Trump-Michels rally in Waukesha," Aug. 6, 2022

The Washington Post, "Trump targets top Wisconsin GOP lawmaker for not overturning election," Aug. 6, 2022

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

More by Sara Swann

Photo claiming ‘massive’ crowd at Trump’s Aug. 5 Wisconsin rally is actually from 2020

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