Trump’s MSG rally was overshadowed by Tony Hinchcliffe’s racist comments
Thousands of Trump supporters flocked to Madison Square Garden. The speakers, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe and Tucker Carlson, made racist remarks.
Claim: Trump wore black and gold at Madison Square Garden rally in solidarity with the proud boys
An Oct. 27 Facebook post ( direct link , archive link ) shows an image of former President Donald Trump wearing a black suit, gold tie and black and gold hat with the words “Make America Great Again.” It also shows an image of a man’s black and yellow shirt with the words “Proud Boys of Spokane.”
“Every neo-Nazi knows the significance of Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, channeling the famous 1939 Nazi rally held there,” reads the text above the images, which are from a post originally shared on X, formerly Twitter. “As a signal, last night Trump ditched his traditional blue suit and red tie for Proud Boys black and gold. He’s getting the band back together.”
The post was shared more than 1,900 times in three days. Other versions of the claim were shared on Facebook and Threads.
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Our assessment: False
Trump wore red and blue to his rally in Madison Square Garden, not black and gold. Trump’s photo is from a rally in Michigan held two days before his event in New York.
Trump’s photo precedes the rally at Madison Square Garden
Trump wrapped up his final weekend before the election with a rally on October 27 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Some social media users were quick to point out that the venue – elsewhere at the time – had hosted a 1939 rally by the American pro-Nazi group the German American Bund.
Others claimed the former president wore the signature colors of the extremist group the Proud Boys at the rally.
But the photo of Trump wearing black and gold was taken during an Oct. 25 rally in Traverse City, Michigan, according to the photo’s caption on Getty Images. Other photos taken at the event show the former president in the same outfit.
Trump was photographed in a blue suit and red tie without a hat at his rally in Madison Square Garden two days later.
The photo of the man wearing the black and yellow shirt was taken at the 2020 Proud Boys rally in Portland, Oregon, as seen on stock image website Shutterstock. The colors black and yellow are commonly associated with the Proud Boys because of the members’ signature “yellow-trimmed, black replica Fred Perry polos,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Fact check: No, the Atlantic did not publish a story with the headline that Trump is Hitler
Critics have linked Trump and the Proud Boys since he refused to condemn the extremist group during a 2020 presidential debate, instead telling the group to “Stand back and stay away.” John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff, also told the New York Times that Trump had made admiring statements about Adolf Hitler, and an Oct. 22 Atlantic article mentioned a time Trump allegedly spoke favorably of Hitler’s generals.
USA TODAY reached out to Trump representatives and the users who shared the post for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
PolitiFact and Check Your Fact also debunked the claim.
Our fact-checking sources:
- Getty Images October 25 Republican presidential candidate Former President Trump holds a rally in Traverse City, Michigan
- Getty Images October 25 Republican presidential candidate Former President Trump holds a rally in Traverse City, Michigan
- Getty Images October 25 Republican presidential candidate Former President Trump holds a rally in Traverse City, Michigan
- Getty Images, October 27, Trump campaign
- Getty Images, October 27, US-Vote-Politics-Trump
- Shutterstock Sep 26, 2020 The Proud Boys host a rally in Portland Oregon, Portland, USA – September 26, 2020.
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