Photo shows trash left behind after New Jersey Trump rally, but it's from 2020 | Fact check

BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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The claim: Image shows trash left by Trump supporters at New Jersey rally on May 11

A May 12 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) includes an image of trash, abandoned lawn chairs and other items in a parking lot.

“What they really think of America,” reads the post, which is a screenshot of a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Trash simply left behind by Trump supporters who were waiting to see him yesterday at New Jersey rally.”

It garnered more than 10,000 likes in two days. Other versions of the claim spread widely on Facebook and X.

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Our rating: False

The image was taken after a rally for former President Donald Trump in New Jersey in January 2020, not 2024.

Photo predates May rally by more than four years

Trump held a campaign rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, on May 11 in which he attacked President Joe Biden, said the country is “in big trouble” and predicted he would win New Jersey on Election Day in a speech lasting nearly 90 minutes.

But the image in the Facebook post is not from the aftermath of that event.

The same photo can be seen in coverage of a rally Trump held in Wildwood in January 2020. It was one of many pictures taken of lawn chairs, blankets, trash and other items left on the grounds of the Wildwoods Convention Center.

Attendees were allowed to have chairs while they waited in line outside but they could not be taken inside the venue, prompting rallygoers to leave them in the parking lot, NJ.com reported. A video from the outlet shows the same scene as the one depicted in the Facebook post, as well as other areas of the trashed parking lot.

Pete Byron, the city's mayor at the time, said he would seek reimbursement from the local Republican Party chapter and Trump’s campaign for what he described as the “extra-curricular cost” of trash cleanup and security for the event, the Cherry Hill Courier-Post reported in 2020.

Fact check: Judge didn't OK Trump missing trial for rally; it was scheduled for trial break

USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims about Trump-related images, including a false claim that images showed a pro-Trump rally in January 2021.

USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the post for comment. One responded and acknowledged the claim on their post was false.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Image of trash predates May Trump rally by several years | Fact check