On Sept. 11, a photo of President Joe Biden wearing a red hat with the words “TRUMP 2024” went viral.
“Joe Biden proudly wears a TRUMP 2024 Hat! Never seen him smile so big! Also, this is a real photo, not AI,” an X post with 20,000 likes says. A post with 500,000 likes also claims it’s a real photo.
Another post with more than a million views says, “BREAKING NEWS: Another video has dropped PROVING JOE BIDEN INTENTIONALLY PUT ON A TRUMP HAT has released. This is the craziest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I can’t believe this is real life right now. WTF IS GOING ON !!!!!!?????”
Other people online also expressed disbelief that Biden would wear a Trump hat.
THE QUESTION
Are the pictures and videos of Biden wearing a Trump 2024 hat real?
THE SOURCES
- White House spokesperson Andrew Bates
- News coverage of President Joe Biden’s Sept. 11 visit to the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department
THE ANSWER
Yes, the pictures and videos of Biden wearing a Trump hat are real.
WHAT WE FOUND
On Sept. 11, as part of Biden’s remembrance visits to honor the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the president stopped by the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department and spoke with firefighters. While there, Biden briefly put on a “TRUMP 2024” hat.
Video of the full exchange shows Biden making jokes about age while offering a man wearing a “TRUMP 2024” hat an autographed hat with the presidential seal on it. The man in the crowd hands Biden the Trump hat in exchange.
The crowd then yells, “Put it on!” to which Biden replied, “I ain’t going that far.” Biden then briefly placed the Trump hat on top of his own hat and the crowd cheered.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates later explained that Biden put the hat on as a gesture of bipartisan unity.
“At the Shanksville Fire Station, @POTUS spoke about the country's bipartisan unity after 9/11 and said we needed to get back to that. As a gesture, he gave a hat to a Trump supporter who then said that in the same spirit, POTUS should put on his Trump cap. He briefly wore it,” Bates posted on X.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The VERIFY team works to separate fact from fiction so that you can understand what is true and false. Please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter, text alerts and our YouTube channel. You can also follow us on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Learn More »
