With Chris Christie and Mike Pence throwing their hats into the ring for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, commentary among the GOP rivals has become even more heated as old alliances break away.
Christie in particular has faced a slew of insults from Donald Trump, who this week suggested his rival had a "psychological problem with size" as the ex-New Jersey governor traded barbs with the former president.
Trump continues to face criticism and goading from all sides, with a picture shared on social media this week suggesting his personal appearance had begun to slide as the race for the White House carries on.
The Claim
A Reddit post by user u/SorryNSorry, posted on June 6, 2023, which received 7,700 upvotes, showed a photo of Trump with a seemingly heavier and aged appearance.
The Facts
Donald Trump's appearance, specifically when pictured without makeup, has previously led to online ridicule. Photos of the former president taken last year at the Trump National Golf Club, Washington, D.C., in Potomac Falls, Virginia, were ridiculed on social media by critics and opponents who said he looked "like a zombie" and was "not looking well."
Based on the shirt and cap he wore then, this latest photo at first looks like it might have been taken at the same time.
Although the recent image was sourced from the same tournament, the picture shared on Reddit and Twitter is a manipulated image that has been making the rounds for some time.
The original, authentic photo was taken by an Associated Press photographer on July 28, 2022, as Trump played in the pro-am at the Bedminster International LIV Golf tournament at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Although that photo shows Trump looking somewhat untidy, it is in no means to the same degree as the fake picture posted on Reddit.
Reverse image searches show that the manipulated picture began circulating around August 2022, and has been used on multiple occasions.
A post shared on Imgur, shows a screengrab of a tweet from August 9, 2022, that used the fake picture with the (also incorrect) claim that it was "the first pic of trump after the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago."
Although it's not clear exactly who produced the image and when, it is clearly not an authentic photo of the former president.
It's not the first time that altered or misleading images of Trump have duped others on social media.
In anticipation of Trump's indictment by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, multiple fake images of the president being handled by police were seen on Twitter.
Ahead of his arraignment, fake images also began circulating of Trump posing for a mugshot, even though his arraignment neither called for nor warranted one.
The Ruling
Misleading Material.
The image of Donald Trump shared on Reddit and elsewhere is not authentic.
The original, unaltered photo was taken in July 2022 at the former president's Bedminster golf club in New Jersey. The altered image was created shortly after and has been reposted on social media multiple times since.
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.
