FACT CHECK: No, Fox News Didnāt Stage A Photo Of Trump Visiting Troops In Afghanistan
An image shared on Facebook said Fox News staged a picture of President Donald Trump visiting soldiers in Afghanistan.
Verdict: False
Thereās no record of Fox News airing the photograph. It has been doctored to make it look like the event was staged.
Fact Check:
Trump made an unannounced visit to Bagram Air Base, the main American base north of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thanksgiving Day. Shortly thereafter, a number of social media users began circulating claims about Fox News staging a photo of the presidentās surprise visit.
This Facebook post features an alleged screen grab of a Fox News broadcast showing American soldiers cheering and clapping during this visit. A sign appearing to bear the words āuniversal,ā ānationalā and āstudiosā can be seen in the background.
āFox propaganda posts a fake picture to show soldiers excited to see Trump in Afghanistan ⦠forgets to take out the Universal Studios sign in the background,ā the Facebook post said. (RELATED: Does This Photo Show Soldiers āCrying And Visibly Shakenā Over Trumpās Syrian Withdrawal?)
However, the image has been digitally altered. Taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Olivier Douliery, the original picture has no sign visible in the background, just a plain beige wall. The words appear to have been photoshopped into the image.
āUS Soldiers react with cheers and applause as US President Donald Trump arrives in Bagram Air Field during a surprise Thanksgiving day visit, on November 28, 2019 in Afghanistan,ā reads the caption.
āOf course itās a fake,ā Douliery told the Daily Caller News Foundation in an email.
Fox News told FactCheck.org that it never aired the image. The DCNF also didnāt find any record of Fox News airing it.
Other media outlets, including Axios and the Daily Mail, included the image in their reporting of Trumpās surprise visit. Those instances didnāt have the sign that appears in the Facebook post.