US 2020 Election: Trump targeted in misleading puddle video
- Published
A misleading video of US President Donald Trump has been widely shared online, intending to show him looking confused standing next to a puddle of rainwater in the grounds of the White House.
Separately, a fake image is circulating on social media, showing a boat apparently with a Trump 2020 flag on it, sitting at the bottom of a lake.
We've taken a look at both of these.
What is the Trump puddle video?
The 12-second video clip shows President Trump walking away from reporters in the direction of a puddle in the White House grounds, which he then stares at.
The full version shows the president waiting for Melania Trump before boarding Marine One
The clip was posted alongside a tweet questioning President Trump's mental health, claiming he was "lost and disoriented".
But the clip has been taken out of context from a longer video, filmed in August 2019. Twitter has flagged the clip on the grounds that it has been edited out of context, external.
In the full version, you can see the president walk away from the press and over towards the puddle, while awaiting First Lady Melania Trump to accompany him on board the helicopter.
President Trump can be seen pointing to the puddle to warn his wife not to step in it.
Melania Trump avoids the puddle and joins President Trump
The puddle - and the president and first lady - can also be clearly seen in a still image taken by a news photographer, who was there at the time.
The manipulated video clip has now been removed, but has already been viewed more than two million times.
What about the Trump boat picture?
This picture appears to show a boat with a pro-Trump flag on it at the bottom of a lake in Texas.
It showed up online after a pro-Trump boat parade in Austin, Texas, over the weekend - one of a number of similar events which have taken place across the US in recent months.
Authorities in Texas did report several vessels sinking during the boat parade, but this picture isn't of one of them.
It has been widely shared, including by Democratic lawmaker Shevrin Jones from Florida, who tweeted the picture, external, saying: "Oh the symbolism of it all..."
His tweet has been re-tweeted more than 3,000 times, and other posts have shared the image online.
The picture is actually of a vessel which sank in Michigan in June, and the Trump flag has been added on to the boat.
The original image was taken in Grand Traverse Bay, Michigan in June
The image first appeared on a local Michigan news website in June, which reported that 10 people on the sunken vessel had been rescued.
It's not clear who originally added the Trump 2020 flag on to the old image.
Mr Jones later tweeted saying: "It's obviously photoshopped but the symbolism remains."
