Video of 2020 Trump Tower rally circulates ahead of possible indictment

CLAIM: A video of a caravan of cars filling the streets outside Trump Tower in New York City shows supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump protesting his possible indictment in March 2023.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The clip was taken on Oct. 4, 2020, at a show of support for Trump after the former president tested positive for COVID-19.

THE FACTS: Following a weekend Truth Social post in which Trump claimed that his arrest is imminent and beseeched his supporters to protest, social media users began sharing an old video, falsely suggesting that they had already begun.

“Trump supporters have shut down 5th Ave in NYC right outside Trump Tower,” states one tweet sharing that clip posted a day after Trump’s initial Saturday announcement on Truth Social. The tweet had received nearly 15,000 likes and nearly 5,000 shares as of Monday.

In the clip, a mass of honking vehicles, most sporting Trump flags, the American flag or both, can be seen on New York City’s Fifth Avenue.

It is not clear who first posted the video, but it matches a news photo taken on Oct. 4, 2020, as supporters rallied for Trump while he was hospitalized for COVID-19. About 100 vehicles drove in from Long Island that day and stopped traffic on Fifth Avenue for about 30 minutes, according to local news reports.

A man wrapped in a red Trump 2020 flag, as well as a man in a red shirt and an American flag hat, can be seen about 15 seconds into the video spreading on social media, on the left side of the shot. They also appear in a photo published on Oct. 4, 2020, in a New York Post article about the rally.

Other elements of the video also suggest it was not taken in March nor 2023. For instance, the trees are covered in green leaves. And a city bus captured about 20 seconds into the clip is advertising “The Comey Rule,” a Showtime miniseries starring Brendan Gleeson as Trump that aired in late September 2020.

Trump’s Truth Social post came as a New York grand jury investigates hush money payments to women who alleged sexual encounters with the former president. Although law enforcement officials in New York City are making security preparations for a possible indictment, Trump’s appeals have so far generated mostly muted reactions from his supporters.

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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.