Posts misrepresent photo to claim Trump was shot in the chest and saved by a bulletproof vest | AP News

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surround by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. Social media users are misrepresenting this photo to claim that Trump was shot in the chest and save by a bulletproof vest. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

CLAIM: A photo shows a bullet hole in former President Donald Trump’s suit jacket, proving that he was shot in the chest during an attempted assassination on Saturday.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The photo actually shows a fold in the suit jacket of a Secret Service agent protecting Trump. Another Associated Press image taken moments before clearly shows that there is no hole in Trump’s jacket. What appears to be a hole can be seen diminishing as the agent moves in video of the shooting’s aftermath.

THE FACTS: Social media users are sharing the photo from the assassination attempt at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, to claim that the former president was shot in the chest. Some posts suggest he survived because he was wearing a bulletproof vest.

In the image, what seems to be a small hole appears inches below Trump’s right underarm. Many posts use a zoomed in version of the photo that has a circle around the supposed hole to emphasize the hard-to-notice detail.

“#Trump was also shot in the chest,” reads one X post. “The bulletproof vest saved him #We support Trump.

Another X post similarly reads: “It appears that Trump was shot in the chest, as the bullet seem to have pierced his suit; he was wearing a bulletproof vest.”

But the apparent hole is actually a fold in the sleeve of a Secret Service agent’s jacket, not the aftermath of a bullet.

The photo, taken by an AP photographer, shows the agent bending over as she protects Trump, her jacket appearing slightly darker than the former president’s. The fold can be seen by following the edge of the agent’s jacket from her neck to just below her left shoulder. It is also visible in video of the shooting’s aftermath, where it can be seen diminishing as the agent moves.

Moreover, another AP image taken moments before the one with the supposed hole clearly shows the right side of Trump’s jacket as he raises his fist. No hole can be seen in the jacket.

Trump wrote on his social media platform that he was “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.” Photos and video of the assassination attempt show blood on his right ear and on the right side of his face.

The Secret Service declined to comment on details of the shooting, including where the bullets hit, and did not respond to a follow-up inquiry about whether Trump was wearing a bulletproof vest. Trump’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old nursing-home employee from suburban Pittsburgh, fired multiple shots at Trump with an AR-style rifle from a nearby roof at a rally for the Republican nominee on Saturday. He was killed by Secret Service personnel, officials said. A spectator was killed and two others were critically injured.

Authorities said the shooting was an attempted assassination, but haven’t yet determined what motivated Crooks to try to kill Trump, the AP has reported.___This is part of the AP’s effort to address widely shared false and misleading information that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.