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Secret Service Agents Did Not Laugh or Smile While Escorting Trump to Safety
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Secret Service Agents Did Not Laugh or Smile While Escorting Trump to Safety

An image circulating online was doctored in an effort to call the assassination attempt staged.

As the Secret Service rushed to evacuate former President Donald Trump from the stage on Saturday after he was wounded by a would-be assassin’s bullet, he told his security detail to wait and he pumped his fist at the crowd several times. The moment was captured by multiple photographers on the scene from multiple angles and the images were shared widely on news broadcasts and online.

At least one of the images from that has also been manipulated. In a post on X, a user replied to a tweet suggesting that the event was staged with a photo showing Secret Service agents smiling and grinning as they shield the former president and lead him away. The post’s text—which reads, “Everyone here seems to be having a good time, laughing and smiling for the cameras. Kinda like they know.”

However, this image has been doctored—the original image by Evan Vucci of the Associated Press, below, shows no such happy demeanor or expression on their faces. 

Former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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Peter Gattuso is a fact check reporter for The Dispatch, based in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the company in 2024, he interned at The Dispatch, National Review, the Cato Institute, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. When Peter is not helping write TMD, he is probably watching baseball, listening to music on vinyl records, or discussing the Jones Act.

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