FACT CHECK: Did Donald Trump Use Homophobic Slur In Reference To Ron DeSantis?

Joseph Casieri | Fact Check Reporter

A post shared on social media purportedly shows that former President Donald Trump posted a derogatory message to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Truth Social.

Verdict: False

This image is fabricated.

Fact Check:

Trump has been indicted on seven counts in the investigation of mishandling of classified documents after he was President and potentially faces federal charges under the Espionage Act, according to CNN. Trump has said that he will “of course” plead not guilty to the charges and has called this indictment “election interference,” according to Fox News.

The Twitter post claims to show a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social account that calls DeSantis a homophobic slur. The alleged post was made two hours prior to the screenshot and was shared over 2,000 times.

“Happy PRIDE MONTH to the ‘Governor’ of Florida, Ron DeFAGGOT!” the alleged post reads.

The claim is inaccurate. There is no credible news report that suggests this post is authentic. This message does not appear on Trump’s verified Truth Social account. There is no record of the message on an archived version of the account. (RELATED: did A French Satirical Magazine Depict Ukrainian Troops Crossing The River Styx?)

 The original version of the post appears to stem from a Twitter account called, “Autists for DeSantis.”  The account later tweeted a follow up to the post claiming that their image went viral and that Trump may have actually seen it. The caption reads, “bro my s**t went viral LMFAO. There’s like a 70% shot Trump saw this.” The post was clearly fabricated by this account and shared as satire.

This is not the first time a misinformation has been shared online. Check Your Fact recently debunked a claim that an AI-controlled drone killed the operator in a simulation.

Joseph Casieri

Fact Check Reporter

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