Fabricated Donald Trump mugshots circulate widely online after Georgia arrest | Fact check
The claim: Image shows Donald Trump's mugshot at Fulton County Jail
An Aug. 23 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a picture of former President Donald Trump with the logo of the Fulton County Sheriff's Office overlaid, appearing to be a mugshot.
Many commenters beneath the post seemed to believe the image shows Trump's recent Georgia mugshot.
"This mugshot is going to give him a ton more votes!" reads one comment.
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Our rating: Altered
The image doesn't show a real mugshot of Trump. It is digitally fabricated and was shared a day before Trump's real mugshot was released.
Image shows fabricated mugshot
A grand jury in Georgia indicted Trump and 18 of his allies on Aug. 14 for allegedly trying to steal the 2020 presidential election in the state. He was then booked at Fulton County Jail on Aug. 24 and became the first former president to have his mugshot taken.
The Instagram post doesn't show this mugshot, however.
First of all, it was shared one day before the former president was arrested and his mugshot was taken.
Trump's outfit also doesn't match what he was wearing when he was arrested, which was a dark blue suit and red tie. The Instagram version shows a black pinstriped suit and black tie.
The real mugshot also does not include a height scale as the fabricated one does, and the real mugshot has a smaller sheriff's department logo.
Fact check: No, this image doesn't show Donald Trump's mugshot from Fulton County
The former president shared the real mugshot on his X account, formerly Twitter, claiming the arrest was a form of election interference.
Paste BN previously debunked another image supposedly showing Trump's mugshot. That image was similarly digitally fabricated.
Paste BN reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The claim was also debunked by PolitiFact and Lead Stories.
Our fact-check sources:
- Paste BN, Aug. 25, Booking photo of Donald Trump made public after arrest in Georgia election case
- Paste BN, Aug. 25, A highly anticipated booking photo. A notorious jail. The Donald Trump arrest recapped
- Associated Press, Aug. 24, Trump Georgia Election Indictment
- Donald Trump, Aug. 24, X post
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