FACT CHECK: Viral X Image Shows 1994 Concert, Not Recent Trump Rally In New Jersey
A viral image shared on X purports to show a large crowd at presumptive 2024 Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump’s recent rally in Wildwood, New Jersey.
Yeah , New Jersey is in play for @realDonaldTrump. Could Joe Biden draw a crowd like this? pic.twitter.com/0mYkYx6fQc
— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) May 12, 2024
Verdict: False
The claim is false. According to multiple sources, including the website Listverse, the image shows a 1994 Rod Stewart concert at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Fact Check:
Trump is ahead of President Joe Biden in five swing states, including Arizona, according to a new poll from The New York Times. The same poll shows that Trump is doing better with voters aged 18 to 29 compared to 2020, Politico reported.
The X image, viewed over one million times as of writing, purports to show a large crowd at Trump’s recent rally in Wildwood, New Jersey. “Yeah, New Jersey is in play for @realDonaldTrump. Could Joe Biden draw a crowd like this?” the image’s caption reads. The image was shared to the platform by Trump loyalist, Roger Stone.
The claim is false, however. According to the website Listverse, the image shows a 1994 Rod Stewart concert at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The concert, which took place on Dec. 31, 1994, is the “largest music concert in history” with “an estimated 3.5 to 4.2 million people” in attendance, the website indicates. The website features the same image Stone posted on X.
The claim is further corroborated by Guinness World Records, Thousand Words, and YouTube, which all stated the concert took place in 1994 and is the largest in history. Thousand Words also features the same image Stone posted on X. (RELATED: Fact Checking Trump’s Claim About Michigan’s Newcomer Rental Subsidy Program)
Likewise, Check Your Fact did not find the viral X image included in any credible news reports about Trump’s recent rally in Wildwood, New Jersey. Actually, the opposite is true. Lead Stories debunked the claim but reported the image showed a Rolling Stones concert at Copacabana Beach in February 2006.
Furthermore, Trump has not shared the viral X image via his website or his TRUTH Social account.
Stone has since admitted his post about the size of the crowd at the rally in Wildwood was a “joke,” according to Newsweek.
Check Your Fact has contacted a Trump spokesperson for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.