Chappell Roan Concert Footage Falsely Labeled As Trump Rally

[Thiệu Ngô]

Donald Trump is often criticized for misleading claims about the size of his rally crowds, greatly inflating the numbers of his supporters despite clear evidence to show otherwise.

By Tom Norton

Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump has made back-to-back claims greatly exaggerating his campaign event attendance figures. His recent return to Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of his first assassination attempt, led the former president to boast that more than 100,000 people had attended, off by an order of at least 40,000.

However, it's not only Trump who has pitched in with plumped-up crowd claims either, as a viral video that misused footage from a Chappell Roan show shared by his alleged supporters this week showed.

A post on TikTok by user rhinomor21, posted on November 3, 2024, and viewed 44,200 times, showed a video of a huge concert crowd with the heading "Salem, Virgina [sic]." A video description read: "#Trump."

Chants of "We want Trump" could be heard in the background.

The TikTok clip's heading referred to Trump's rally in Salem on Saturday. The same video was shared across TikTok and spread on X, formerly Twitter, where it received more than a million views.

Comments underneath the posts appeared to convince some of its readers. On TikTok, one user wrote "Holy cow! Phenomenal!"; another user seemed to confirm its authenticity, adding, "This where we were yesterday!! Amazing!!"

However, apart from the fact the Trump rally was held indoors, the footage was tracible to the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

Multiple videos on YouTube show the same video from the top of the festival's main stage. This year's event took place between October 4 and 13, 2024.

Footage from the "Hot To Go!" singer's set at the festival, posted on X by Austin City Limits Festival, was used; the performance of her song "Pink Pony Club" was replaced with a snippet from 90s dance anthem "Sandstorm" by Darude and overlaid with pro-Trump chants.

There is nothing to suggest that the former president's team was in any way connected to the posts.

The Trump rally in Virginia was held at the Salem Civic Center. As reported by The Washington Post, The Republican used the event to repeat unfounded claims that his opponents plan to fraudulently claim election victory.

"I'd love to win the popular vote with them cheating," Trump said.

"Let them cheat, because that's what they do, they do it very well, they're very professional. But I think we have a really good chance to win the popular vote."

False.

The video shared on TikTok and X was not taken at a Trump rally. It was filmed at the Austin City Limits Festival in Austin, Texas, and appears to have been taken from Chappell Roan's set at the event in October 2024. The Trump rally was held in an indoor arena.