Doctored RNC video fuels falsehoods about Trump assassination attempt

"My boy that bandage is on the wrong ear ain't it?" says text over a clip shared in a July 16, 2024 Facebook post.

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Screenshot from Facebook taken July 29, 2024

Similar posts ricocheted across Instagram, X and TikTok as Republicans convened in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to nominate Trump for president, just days after he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt during a July 13 campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, fired eight bullets, grazing Trump in his right ear, killing one bystander and injuring two others before a Secret Service sniper team shot and killed him.

The episode spawned a rush of disinformation and conspiracy theories across platforms, including posts misidentifying the shooter and unsubstantiated claims that the attack was "staged" or an "inside job." Social media users have also shared a fake medical report and misrepresented photos to question Trump's injuries.

The allegations that Trump showed up to the RNC with gauze wrapped around the wrong ear are similarly false.

The video shared online appears to show Trump moving from left to right. He shakes hands with Republican Congressman Byron Donalds and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson before raising his left arm to wave to the crowd on his way out of the stands.

But the clip is flipped horizontally -- an edit made clear by his left-handed handshakes and the backwards American flag lapels on his and Donalds's jackets.

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Screenshot from Facebook taken July 29, 2024, with elements outlined by AFP

C-SPAN's live footage shows that as Trump exited his seat at the end of the night on July 15, he actually moved from right to left and waved with his right hand (archived here).

The bandage was on his right ear, not his left.

AFP photos from the event also show the covering on his right ear.

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pumps his fist during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 15, 2024 (AFP / KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI)

Some convention attendees later donned their own makeshift bandages as a symbol of support for Trump.

The FBI addressed questions about the nature of Trump's wounds in a July 26 statement.

"What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject's rifle," the agency said.

Trump previously wrote on Truth Social that a bullet "pierced the upper part of my right ear" (archived here).

AFP has debunked other claims about the former president here.