A shooter targeted former President Donald Trump in an assassination attempt during a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump’s ear was wounded, but he was otherwise unharmed.
Some social media posts claim his ear healed extraordinarily quickly.
“The top part of his ear grew back. (Yes. This is from today),” a July 15 X post read. The post featured a photo of Trump with an unharmed ear.
A July 15 Threads post shared a screenshot of the X post with the same claim.
(Screenshot from Threads)
It was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)
The photo of Trump the posts used was not captured after the assassination attempt. A reverse-image search showed the photo was taken in 2022.
It was cropped from a Reuters photo taken Sept. 17, 2022, of Trump listening to Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, speak at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, when Vance was a Senate candidate. Trump announced July 15 that Vance would be his running mate.
Trump’s first public appearance after the shooting was July 15 at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. His right ear was bandaged.
Former President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican nominee for president, watches July 15, 2024, during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. (AP)
We rate the claim that a photo shows Trump’s ear “grew back” Pants on Fire!
Truth-o-meter Ruling
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The photo was uploaded in September 2022.
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Trump’s first public appearance after the shooting was July 15 at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. His right ear was bandaged.
Statement
Context
a Threads postSpeaker/Target
Statement Date
Our Sources
Threads post (archived link), July 15, 2024
X post, July 15, 2024
Reuters photo, Sept. 18, 2022
PolitiFact, J.D. Vance is Trump’s VP pick. His relationship with Trump, controversies and comments, fact-checked, July 16, 2024
NBC News, Trump soaks up cheers at GOP convention in first public appearance since shooting, July 15, 2024
Associated Press photo, July 15, 2024
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