No, the presidential limo wasn’t doing burnouts at the Daytona 500

Did President Donald Trump’s limousine driver put the rubber to the road and do burnouts in Cadillac One at the Daytona 500?

Sorry to disappoint, but no.

A Facebook post shares an altered image of such a scene, along with a caption that says, “the presidential limo driver entertains the crowd during the rain delays at the Daytona 500 with smokey burnouts.”

The 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.) 

The president and first lady did attend the Feb. 16 event, and multiple media organizations reported Trump’s limo took a warmup lap around the track. 

But the driver did not decide to use the official state car of the president of the United States to do some smoky burnouts, in the rain no less.  

Beyond the Facebook post, we found the altered image in a tweet that said: “This is what we needed at the #DAYTONA500 is for @realDonaldTrump limo to do a burnout.” The image then got passed around as authentic.

If such a thing happened in the First Car, we would all know about it. 

We rate this altered photo an extra-smoky Pants on Fire!

By

Samantha Putterman

Staff Writer

February 21, 2020

Truth-o-meter Ruling

Pants on Fire!

Statement

Says President Trump’s limousine driver did burnouts to entertain Daytona 500 spectators during a rain delay.

Context

a Facebook post

Speaker/Target

Speaker: Viral image

Statement Date

February 16, 2020