Edited Mamdani photo fuels Trump outfit imitation allegations
- Published on November 26, 2025 at 18:13
- 3 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
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Social media users are claiming a scarf-and-coat combination US President Donald Trump wore after an unexpectedly cordial White House meeting with Zohran Mamdani was a knockoff of a previous outfit from the New York City mayor-elect. But the image of Mamdani in the side-by-side is altered; he was sporting different colors in the original photo from 2023.
"We knew the outfit Trump wore today look familiar... OMG!" says a November 22, 2025 Facebook post from MeidasTouch, a progressive media company.
The post juxtaposes two pictures: one photo of Trump wearing a burgundy-red scarf layered under a long black overcoat, and another image that appears to show Mamdani dressed on a separate occasion in a similarly colored turtleneck and suit jacket.
Similar posts accusing Trump of "copying" Mamdani's style rocketed across platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads and X. Some compared the president's alleged imitation to a scenes from the American television series "The Office" or the 2004 cult-teen comedy "Mean Girls."
Online news sites such as the Daily Beast and the Hindustan Times also published articles comparing Trump's get-up to the same image of Mamdani.
The pictures of Trump's outfit are real; the Republican wore the scarf November 22, in what observers noted was a break from his typical suit-and-tie look.
The day before, Trump had heaped praise on Mamdani in a warm White House meeting that followed months of attacks on the Muslim and self-declared socialist.
The image of the 34-year-old mayor-elect, however, is manipulated.
A reverse image search revealed the original photo, captured by a CQ Roll Call photographer in November 2023, shows Mamdani wearing a black turtleneck under a gray suit (archived here).
The photo's caption on Getty Images says Mamdani, then a New York state lawmaker, was speaking "during a news conference outside the White House to announce a hunger strike to demand that President Joe Biden 'call for a permanent ceasefire and no military aid to Israel.'"
A longstanding and outspoken supporter of the Palestinian cause, Mamdani has heavily criticized Israel's conduct in its war against Hamas as a "genocide" in Gaza.
AFP captured photos and video showing Mamdani at the same event, also attended by actress Cynthia Nixon.
One of the earliest and most widespread posts sharing the altered Mamdani photo -- which was embedded and quoted in the Daily Beast's article -- came from an X account with the handle "@eltokh7."
In a reply to another X user, the account acknowledged: "Yes I altered it" (archived here).
The Daily Beast later updated its article, removing its reference to that account's post and adding an editorial note "to make clear what outfit Mamdani was seen in during Biden's presidency."
AFP has debunked other misinformation about US politics here.
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