FACT CHECK: Did Trump Say His 2020 Election Loss Was The ‘Real Tragedy’ Compared To Super Bowl Parade Shooting?
A video shared on X allegedly shows former President Donald Trump saying his 2020 election loss was the “real tragedy” compared to the recent shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade.
Hours after another deadly shooting, Trump says the real “tragedy” was his own election loss in 2020 pic.twitter.com/qF6ZXROZTQ
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) February 15, 2024
Verdict: False
The quote lacks context. Trump did not mention the shooting in his speech.
Fact Check:
Two juveniles have been charged for their role in a shooting at a parade celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl win, injuring 22 people and killing one, according to NBC News. The suspects, both under the age of 18, are being held on gun and resisting arrest charges, BBC reported.
An X post claims Trump compared his 2020 election loss to the shooting. The post shared a video of Trump making the alleged claim.
A video shows Trump speaking at a podium, the chyron indicating that he is speaking at a rally in North Charleston, South Carolina. “We can’t let them win. We’re not going to have a country. But after the election, if a tragedy happened like happened three years ago,” Trump says in the video. “That was a tragedy what happened. That was a tragedy. Look what’s happened to our country. Our country has gone to hell.”
“Hours after another deadly shooting, Trump says the real ‘tragedy’ was his own election loss in 2020,” the post reads.
The Trump quote has been taken out of context, however. The video was posted to YouTube by Newsmax. Trump does not mention the shooting, but instead says that another election loss would be a tragedy similar to the previous one. A search through the YouTube video’s transcript shows that he did not mention the shooting in his speech. (RELATED: Did Trump Claim He Is Waging A War On American Democracy?)
Preceding the part shown in the video, around the 5:58 timestamp, Trump discusses how energy and gas prices have risen under the Biden administration. He implies that the “tragedy” would be him losing the election and the prices continuing to rise if Biden won the reelection.
Check Your Fact has reached out to a Trump spokesperson for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.
