Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a T-shirt that reads, “I’m proud of my gay husband.”
Nancy Pelosi didn’t display T-shirt that reads “I’m proud of my gay husband.” The photo was doctored
If your time is short
- The actual photo was taken in 2018 after U.S. Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., gave Pelosi a shirt that featured a quote from when she said "Mr. President, please don’t characterize the strength I bring to this meeting as the leader of the House Democrats who just won a big victory."
Weeks after the 2018 midterm elections returned control of the U.S. House to Democrats, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., sat down for an Oval Office meeting with then-President Donald Trump that quickly turned snippy.
The leaders talked over each other as they discussed how to avoid a looming government shutdown over Trump’s desired border wall. At one point, Trump alluded to Pelosi’s efforts to resume her House speakership, which a small group of Democrats in her caucus were pushing against.
“Mr. President, please don’t characterize the strength that I bring to this meeting as the leader of the House Democrats, who just won a big victory,” Pelosi told him.
The comeback energized her Democratic colleagues and landed on a T-shirt that she gleefully held up for a camera.
You wouldn’t know any of that from a manipulated photo going viral after her husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked by an intruder in their San Francisco home on Oct. 28.
An Instagram post features an image of the House speaker holding a blue T-shirt that reads, “I’m proud of my gay husband.”
The post was flagged as part of Instagram’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
The image is doctored to include a different T-shirt from what Pelosi was really holding.
The actual image was captured Dec. 11, 2018, after Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., presented Pelosi with a black T-shirt bearing her “Mr. President” quote.
Cicilline shared the photo from his congressional Facebook account with the caption, “Just gave Nancy Pelosi this shirt that I had made with a quote from her meeting in the Oval Office last week. So proud of her and grateful for her strong leadership!”
Bogus social media posts and claims targeting Paul Pelosi have been abundant since the attack, which sent Pelosi to the hospital to repair a skull fracture.
The altered photo in this Instagram post is another example. We rate this Pants on Fire!
Our Sources
Instagram post, (archived) Oct. 31, 2022
PolitiFact, "Fact-checking Trump, Pelosi and Schumer’s White House fight over the border wall, shutdown," Dec. 11, 2018
Insider, "'You constantly misstate how much of the wall is built': Schumer and Pelosi confront Trump over false claims during chaotic, on-camera debate," Dec. 11, 2018
Facebook post from Rep. David Cicilline, D-RI, Dec. 19, 2018
New York Times, "Pelosi vs. Trump: ‘Don’t Characterize the Strength That I Bring,’ She Says", Dec. 11, 2018
