FACT CHECK: Viral Image Claims to Show A Boat That Sank At A Recent Trump Boat Parade
An image shared on Twitter purportedly shows a boat that sank during a recent boat parade for President Donald Trump.
One of the sunken boats at the Trump boat parade…sad ????They tried to float the conspiracy that they were targeted but what happened is that they were to close together creating wakes and the boats took on too much water. pic.twitter.com/S7XhnUkkkL
— Gigi ???? (@Gigisaysthis1) September 7, 2020
Verdict: False
The Trump 2020 flag has been superimposed into the image. The boat does not appear to have been involved in a pro-Trump boating event when it sank.
Fact Check:
The claim that the photo shows a boat that sank during a recent boat parade in support of Trump has circulated widely on social media in recent days. At least four boats sank at the pro-Trump boating event on Sept. 5 in Texas’ Lake Travis, according to The New York Times.
But the photo, which has been digitally altered, does not show a vessel that sank to the bottom of Lake Travis. Diver and photographer Dusty Klifman took the original picture of the motorboat at the bottom of Lake Michigan on June 26, according to Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Klifman posted the still image, as well as a video of the sunken boat, on his Facebook page Blueyes Below. In the unaltered still, there is no Trump 2020 flag. (RELATED: Does This Image Show The Crowd Outside Trump’s Minnesota Rally?)
The pictured boat sank on June 19 on Grand Traverse Bay after taking on water, according to Michigan Live. The Coast Guard and a good Samaritan helped rescue the 10 people that were onboard, per the Traverse City Record-Eagle. Local media reports about the incident do not mention the boat being involved in a pro-Trump boat parade.
State and federal officials in early July said they were working to arrange a salvage operation to remove the 33-foot-long boat from the bottom of Lake Michigan, according to the Traverse City Record-Eagle. The Detroit News reported on Wednesday that the boat would be raised in coming days.