Trump and Obama address fallout from hateful rally ahead of election
Donald Trump and Barack Obama both had messages related to hate following an incendiary Trump rally in New York City.
The claim: Image shows crowd in New York before Trump rally at Madison Square Garden
An Oct. 27 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows an image of thousands of people, many of whom are wearing red caps, lined up behind barricades along a city street.
“NY currently hours before seeing Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden,” the post’s caption reads.
It was shared more than 100 times in two days. Similar versions circulated widely on Facebook, on Threads and on X, formerly Twitter.
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Our rating: False
The image shows a street in Dublin, Ireland, during former President Barack Obama’s visit in 2011, not the scene outside former President Trump’s 2024 rally in New York.
Image shows crowd in Dublin, not New York
Trump, who is locked in a tight race for the presidency with Vice President Kamala Harris, held a rally Oct. 27 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Some supporters camped overnight for it. Hours before the event started, thousands had lined up outside the 19,500-seat arena.
But that’s not what the image posted to Facebook shows. That photo is more than a decade old and shows a street in Dublin, Ireland, during a visit from Barack Obama, the president at the time.
Fact check: Partly false claim Trump canceled CNN town hall, NRA rally and other events
The image was captured by a Getty Images photographer on May 23, 2011. Its caption – which includes a typo in the year – explains that it shows a crowd lined up to pass through a security checkpoint for a concert also being attended by Obama. Images of the same scene were also published by The Guardian and The Telegraph with the correct year.
A closer look at the image reveals multiple clues that it shows Dublin, not New York. The logo for Dublin Bus, the city’s bus operator, appears on multiple signposts. An Irish flag is flying from a building on the right side of the image. Additionally, lamp posts are adorned with shamrocks – Ireland’s unofficial symbol – though those are more clearly visible in an uncropped, higher-resolution version of the image.
USA TODAY previously debunked false claims that Trump said 35,000 people attended a prior rally in the Bronx, that he shared a doctored rally photo showing the same person in multiple places and that a bomb was found near the site of his September rally on Long Island.
USA TODAY reached out to several social media users who shared the image but did not immediately receive any responses.
Check Your Fact and PolitiFact also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
- Getty Images, May 23, 2011, US President Barack Obama Visits Ireland
- The Guardian, May 23, 2011, Barack Obama visits Ireland – in pictures
- The Telegraph, May 23, 2011, US President Barack Obama arrives in Ireland to celebrate his ancestral roots
- Built Dublin, accessed Oct. 29, Shamrock lamp post, Cambridge Road, Rathmines, Dublin 6
- Dublin Bus, accessed Oct. 29, Home
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