An image of Donald Trump since he was shot at shows his right ear is uninjured.
The image is genuine and is a screenshot of a video of Mr Trump golfing with Bryson DeChambeau, but it was filmed before the 13 July attempted assassination of the Republican presidential nominee.
An image of Donald Trump golfing has been shared with false claims it shows his injured ear has been “healed…like magic”.
The image shows the Republican presidential candidate in a ‘Make America Great Again’ red cap and white campaign shirt, with golf buggies in the background.
It appears to be a screenshot from a video of Mr Trump at a golf course with two-time US Open winner Bryson DeChambeau, posted on X and TikTok on 23 July.
A caption with the screenshot, which has been shared on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, says: “And just like magic, his ear is HEALED, folks!” implying the image was taken after the attempted assassination of Mr Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on 13 July, which left him with an injury to his right ear.
However, Mr DeChambeau confirmed that the full video was filmed prior to the shooting. He posted on X: “To confirm and clear any speculation, the Break 50 video with @realDonaldTrump was filmed during the first week of July, before I traveled overseas and prior to the incident that occurred in Butler, PA.”
Mr Trump appeared in a longer video posted on Mr DeChambeau’s YouTube channel, also on 23 July, as part of his ‘Break 50’ series in which celebrities and golf influencers attempt to play 18 holes in fewer than 50 shots.
The attempted assassination of Mr Trump, which left him with a wound but no stitches to his right ear, according to his son Eric, has seen him wearing a white bandage in public.
However, in recent appearances—including at a rally in North Carolina on 25 July, he can be seen to be wearing a smaller, flesh coloured bandage on the top part of his right ear.
The implication of the captions feeds into false theories we have seen circulating since the attempted assassination that the attack was staged, or that Mr Trump's injury to his right ear was faked.
It’s important to think about whether what you see online is accurate, before sharing it on social media. We’ve written guides to help you spot misleading images and videos, and also assess whether something might be an AI deepfake.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because the image of Donald Trump golfing is from a video filmed before the shooting on 13 July.
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