Quick Take
Viral social media posts are purporting a photo — which shows a motorcade being met by a swarm of flags supporting former President Donald Trump — captures President Joe Biden’s July 28 visit to Pennsylvania. While some Trump supporters did protest Biden’s visit, the photo cited is actually from October 2020.
Full Story
President Joe Biden visited the Allentown, Pennsylvania, area on July 28, and spoke about manufacturing jobs at a Mack Trucks facility in Macungie Township.
His motorcade was greeted in part by a group of supporters of former President Donald Trump, as lehighvalleylive.com documented with photos.
But some are distorting the facts online by purporting that a specific photo — showing Biden’s motorcade seemingly engulfed by pro-Trump flags — is from that July 28 visit. It’s actually from October 2020, in another area of the state.
The photo in question was shared in a series of viral tweets and Facebook posts, racking up thousands of shares.
“Biden motorcade yesterday in Pennsylvania. See any of the 81 million Biden voters? Me neither. #MAGA,” read one tweet.
A July 29 Facebook post from the page “I Love My Freedom,” shared more than 4,000 times, posted the image overlaid with the text: “Biden visited Allentown, PA and look who showed up to greet him!”
A reverse image search shows that the photo in question was actually taken on Oct. 24, 2020.
Getty Images indicates the photo was taken as Biden, then the Democratic nominee for president, traveled to a high school for a campaign event in Dallas, Pennsylvania — some 70 miles from Macungie, where Biden was on July 28.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here.
Sources
Bresswein, Kurt. “Raucous Trump crowd, a call for unity, a dog bite: The scene outside Biden’s Mack Trucks stop. (PHOTOS).” Lehighvalleylive.com. 28 Jul 2021.
“Joe Biden Campaigns For President In Pennsylvania.” Getty Images. Accessed 29 Jul 2021.
“President Biden Delivers Remarks on Manufacturing.” C-SPAN. 28 Jul 2021.
“Remarks by President Biden on the Importance of American Manufacturing.” White House. 28 Jul 2021.
Terruso, Julia and Jonathan Tamari. “Biden visits Mack truck plant in Lehigh Valley to unveil his ‘Buy American’ plan.” Philadelphia Inquirer. 28 Jul 2021.