Claim: Video of a protester slapping Trump on stage while he is giving a speech.
Fact: Video found to be digitally altered.
Amid the hefty tariffs imposed by the US on over 75 countries, including Sri Lanka, which were later paused, a 13-second video is going viral on social media with users mocking US president Donald Trump and his decision. The video purportedly shows a person climbing onto the stage and slapping Trump as he is giving a speech before two secret service agents come to Trump’s rescue.
A user shared the video on Facebook with the caption, “If I could give him a slap like that, my soul would find peace.”
A similar post can be found here.
Fact Check/Verification
Newschecker team first noted the sign on the podium read, “Dayton, Ohio”, indicating the location of the event. We then ran a reverse image search of several keyframes along with the keywords “Trump”, “Dayton”, and “Ohio”.
We then found the following videos published by CBS News and The Guardian on March 12, 2016, during Trump’s campaign for presidency:
The CBS News video says: “Secret Service run to Trump as protester rushes stage” while The Guardian says: “Donald Trump rushed on stage by protester at Ohio rally – video”. However neither video shows a person on stage nor slapping Trump like in the viral video.
The CBS News video says: “Secret Service run to Trump as protester rushes stage” while The Guardian says: “Donald Trump rushed on stage by protester at Ohio rally – video”. However neither video shows a person on stage nor slapping Trump like in the viral video.
We also looked into video footage of the full rally in Dayton, Ohio from 2016, which further confirmed that the video is edited.
Also, a photo of the protester can be seen in this ABC News report, dated March 16, 2016, identifying him as Thomas DiMassimo, who was charged with one count of knowingly entering restricted grounds. Similar Guardian and CNN reports can be seen here and here, where you can clearly see it is not the same person in the viral video.
The Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU) of the Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA), of which Newschecker is a part, ran screengrabs past WasitAI, an AI-image detector, which suspected generative elements at certain frames, further proving that it was edited.
Conclusion
The viral video of a protester slapping US president Donald Trump on stage was found to be edited.
Result: Altered Photo/Video
Our sources
“Secret Service run to Trump as protester rushes stage”, posted on CBS News YouTube channel, March 12, 2016
“Donald Trump rushed on stage by protester at Ohio rally – video”, posted on The Guardian, March 12, 2016
“FULL SPEECH: Donald Trump rally in Dayton, OH 3-12-2016”, livestreamed on NBC6 Miami Tracking Irma YouTube channel, March 12, 2016
“Man Who Rushed Trump Stage Saturday Charged Federally“, posted on ABC News, March 16, 2016
WasItAI
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