Donald Trump's rally in Waco, Texas—his first official 2024 presidential campaign event—gathered significant attention this past weekend as the former president faces the prospect of indictment by prosecutors in Manhattan.
The event made headlines, including stories about Trump's apparent snub of Texas Senator Ted Cruz and attacks on his potential Republican presidential rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
On social media, attention turned toward one photo of the crowd at Waco, which Trump's critics used to mock him by claiming the rally saw a low turnout.
The Claim
Multiple tweets posted on March 26, 2023, included an aerial photo of what was described as the crowd for a Donald Trump campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport in Texas.
A tweet by user @7Veritas4, posted on March 26, 2023, showed the photo with the message: "There were more people in line for bathrooms at the Taylor Swift concert."
One tweet, posted on March 26, 2023, viewed 13,000 times, called the crowd in Waco "weak".
The Facts
The image is a screengrab from footage published by Right Side Broadcasting Network (RSBN). On Twitter, RSBN posted the footage with a tweet stating: "POV: Aerial view from TRUMP FORCE ONE as it flies over rally in Waco!"
It's not clear whether RSBN was on the plane, but it was quoted by Trump on Truth Social as one of the media companies covering the event. Newsweek has contacted RSBN to ask whether the footage was its own or supplied to them.
Rob Crilly, a senior U.S. political report for DailyMail.com, shared a similar aerial image of the Waco crowd on Twitter. "View of Trump rally crowd in Waco, Texas, from the air as Trump Force One comes in to land," Crilly wrote.
In any case, the footage is from the Waco rally. This is corroborated by other videos and photographs taken at the event; however one estimates the turnout, the aerial photos are of the crowd in Waco.
On Friday, Trump bypassed a question from Newsmax on whether the rally was meant to provoke memories of the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian religious sect by changing the topic to crowd size.
Trump was asked for his "thoughts" on the accusations that he purposely chose the city with the intent of "stoking the fires of Waco."
In response, however, the former president instead talked about his estimates for the crowd size showing up Saturday.
"Well, I knew there's tens of thousands of people that we're going to have, you, you know, many, many tens of thousands, the line is already miles long trying to get in," Trump said.
Newsweek has contacted a representative of Donald Trump via email for comment.
The Ruling
True.
The aerial photos shared on social media were taken from footage shot from Donald Trump's private jet.
Although pro and anti-Trump commentators had different perceptions of the scale of the turnout for the event in Waco, the images shared on social media of the site from the air are authentic.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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