Supposed Trump post that his would-be assassins are '0-2' is fabricated | Fact check

Joedy McCreary, USA TODAY

The claim: Image shows Trump post about suspected second assassination attempt

A Sept. 15 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) from Maryland Republican congressional candidate Kim Klacik shows an image of what appears to be a Truth Social post from former President Donald Trump in response to a second suspected assassination attempt against him.

Text of the purported post reads, “0-2."

The Facebook post was shared more than 300 times in a day. Other Facebook users shared the image widely. It also circulated on X, formerly Twitter, and accumulated thousands of likes on Instagram.

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The image is a fabrication. There is no record of the post on Trump’s Truth Social account.

No record of post on Trump's Truth Social account

Trump was the target of a botched apparent assassination attempt Sept. 15 During the Republican presidential nominee's round of golf at his Florida club, U.S. Secret Service agents walking ahead of him spotted a gun barrel in the bushes lining the course and fired their weapons, authorities said. It came nine weeks after a gunman opened fire during a Trump campaign rally in Pennsylvania, leaving the former president with a wounded ear.

But Trump did not respond by posting that his would-be assassins were “0-2." The image in the Facebook post is fabricated.

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There is no record of the post in question on his Truth Social profile and no mention of it in any coverage from legitimate news outlets. His only post in the immediate hours after the incident came at 11:36 p.m. ET, when he thanked the U.S. Secret Service and local authorities for “the incredible job done today at Trump International in keeping me … SAFE.”

A closer look at the details reveals the image to be a fabrication.

The font in the purported post does not match the one used in authentic posts on the platform. For example, the “0” in the fabricated post is flatter on its top, bottom and sides than it is in real posts.

In addition, the purported measures of virality – "487 ReTruths, 1.64k Likes" – are identical in every version that includes them, an indication the image is a fabrication that traces to a single source. An authentic post certainly would have been captured and shared at various times by Trump’s 7.7 million followers with varying numbers of reposts and likes.

USA TODAY previously debunked several false claims related to the July assassination attempt against Trump. Those include assertions that he posted that the shooting “took my entire ear off,” that an image shows his suit jacket pierced by a bullet and that a clip shows a bullet clipping Trump’s ear.

USA TODAY reached out to a Trump campaign spokesperson, to Klacik and to several other social media users who shared the image but did not immediately receive responses.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: This Trump post about assassination attempts is not real | fact check

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