Says a photo taken in England shows "thousands of English Trump supporters" celebrating the president’s visit.
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No, the photo of a parade in England was not for Donald Trump – it was for Liverpool’s soccer team
Thanks to a photo on Facebook and an inaccurate caption, a large crowd of soccer fans in England were misidentified as "thousands of English Trump supporters."
The post features a picture of the parade, with thousands of people in red lining the street. The caption says, "When covering President Trump’s trip to England, why is it that every news channel is showing the same footage of Trump protesters but not one will show the Thousands who showed up in support? Well here is a photo of what English Trump Supporters look like."
The photo 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.)
Nope, the people in that photo were not there for Donald Trump (who wasn’t even in the country yet anyway).
The parade pictured actually took place on June 2, a day before Trump arrived in the UK, and was a celebration of Liverpool Football Club’s 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the 2019 Champions League final in Madrid. The BBC reported that police estimated more than 750,000 fans turned out to the victory parade.
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The Liverpool Echo published an article on the miscaptioned photo.
The photo wasn’t even snapped in London, where the president stayed during his 3-day visit. It took place in Liverpool, naturally, which is located more than 200 miles north of the country’s capital. The team’s predominant color is red and did not represent the red apparel that some of the president’s supporters wear.
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The claim comes as several outlets reported that tens of thousands of people gathered in the streets of London to protest Trump’s visit. There were reportedly pockets of Trump supporters in those crowds, too, but this photo being captioned as "thousands of English Trump supporters" is incorrect.
We rate it Pants on Fire!
Correction, June 18, 2019: An earlier version of this story included a mistaken attribution for a story on the miscaptioned photo. The Liverpool Echo published the article. This correction does not change the rating.
Our Sources
Facebook post, June 4, 2019
Liverpoolecho.co.uk, American uses image of Liverpool's Champions League parade to show Donald Trump support, June 6, 2019
Liverpoolecho.co.uk, Liverpool FC Champions League victory parade route, timetable and map, June 2, 2019
BBC, Champions League: Crowds number 750,000 at Liverpool parade, June 2, 2019
The Independent, Trump factcheck: Is the US President correct in saying ‘big’ crowds gathered to support him during UK state visit? June 5, 2019
New York Times, Protesters Hit London Streets, With a Giant Trump Balloon in Tow, June 4, 2019
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No, the photo of a parade in England was not for Donald Trump – it was for Liverpool’s soccer team
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