Marjorie Taylor Greene sign altered to reference Trump's 'bloodbath' comment | Fact check
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The claim: Video shows Marjorie Taylor Greene holding ‘bloodbath’ sign
A March 17 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a video of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene standing on a sidewalk with supporters of former President Donald Trump while waving at drivers and holding a large sign.
“Honk if you want a bloodbath,” the sign reads.
It was liked more than 300 times in three days. Similar versions accumulated hundreds of shares on X, formerly Twitter.
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Our rating: Altered
The video was digitally edited to change the sign's message. In the original version posted by Greene, Trump's name and campaign slogan appear on the sign. The edited version was first posted by a satirical account, but that is not reflected in the Instagram post.
Doctored video of sign originated as satire
Trump touched off a debate about the words "blood bath” when he used the term during a March 16 campaign speech. Trump later said he was talking about the consequences he predicts for the auto industry if President Joe Biden is re-elected. Greene defended Trump’s diction in a March 17 post on X accusing Democrats and the media of twisting his words.
But the video shown in the Instagram post is a fabrication. Greene did not wave a sign bearing those words to motorists. The "bloodbath" phrase was digitally edited into video originally posted by Greene.
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The edited video was first posted on X by the account @Tarquin_Helmet and contains its watermark. The account describes itself in its bio as an “English graphic satirist,” and confirmed in a separate post that the video is satire and the message on the sign was doctored. That user has posted multiple versions of the video, changing the message on the sign each time.
Greene posted the original video to X on Feb. 24, the day Trump won the Republican presidential primary in South Carolina. The message on the Georgia Republican's sign reads, “Trump/Make America Great Again 2024.”
The Instagram post is an example of what could be called "stolen satire," in which videos originally presented as satire are captured and reposted in a way that makes them appear authentic. As a result, viewers of the second-generation video are misled, which is what happened with this post.
USA TODAY reached out to the Instagram user who shared the post but did not immediately receive a response.
Snopes also debunked the claim.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video doctored to add 'bloodbath' to Greene's sign | Fact check
