The Truth Behind Viral Tom Hanks 'Keep America Trumpless' T-Shirt Claim. Read the Fact Check
A photograph appearing to show actor Tom Hanks wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Keep America Trumpless” and the American Flag, has gone viral on Facebook, X, and other social media platforms in May 2024.
On May 6, 2024, A user on the social media platform X, with the name of @Poppularliberals shared a photograph of the actor commenting that, Hanks had chosen “democracy over loyalty to the fake, orange prophet,” referring to former U.S. President Donald Trump. Another identical tweet gained public attention receiving over 7000 retweets and 4000 likes was made by the user @HelenHennings on X, stating “is that you tome hanks?…how about we keep america hanksless!!!!…”
Many other users have made homogeneous claims on social media.
The image surfaced amidst heightened political tensions leading up to the 2024 U.S Presidential Elections and Tom Hanks, a longtime Democrat supporter has been an outspoken critic of Donald Trump.
Fact Check
DFRAC’s team fact-checked the claims made by these social media users on X and Facebook by executing a reverse image search. Our investigation revealed that these claims made by the users are fake. The viral image appears to be digitally altered and fabricated. The original photograph shows Hanks going for a walk with his wife in Sydney, Australia March 2020, before he tested positive for COVID-19.
While researching and investigating we found media reports by Reuters, Y Entertainment, and other articles. It mentions the article published by British tabloid The Sun on March 13, 2020, which carried the same photograph. The Sun credited celebrity news agency Backgrid for the image. On comparing the viral image to The Sun’s version revealed the viral one is a cropped and digitally altered version of the original. The Sun’s uncropped photo shows Hanks walking with wife Rita Wilson, wearing a plain grey t-shirt, not the black printed shirt in the viral fake.
Conclusion
It is clear from the fact check that the viral claim that Tom Hanks wore a “Keep America Trumpless” t-shirt is false. The image making this claim has been digitally manipulated from its original 2020 context.
