Says Donald Trump Jr. “has a banner photo of Joe Biden being hung from a helicopter.”
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No, this isn’t an image of Joe Biden hanging from a helicopter on Donald Trump Jr.’s Truth Social
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An image of someone hanging from a helicopter next to President Joe Biden’s last name appeared as the banner photo on Donald Trump Jr.’s X account and is the banner photo on his Truth Social account. But it refers to false claims that the Taliban hanged a man from a helicopter in 2021 — not to Biden hanging from a helicopter.
In 2021, former President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., changed his banner photo on what was then known as Twitter to an image that included President Joe Biden’s last name, an illustration of a helicopter and a body hanging from that aircraft.
A recent Threads post draws attention to that image, but makes a claim that takes it out of context.
"Just to be clear, DJTJ has a banner photo of Joe Biden being hung from a helicopter," the Oct. 28 post said.
It was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)
In late August 2021, conservative websites, pundits and politicians, such as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, claimed that the Taliban had hanged someone from a helicopter flying over Afghanistan. The viral rumor was based on a short, blurry video that showed a helicopter flying with a person dangling from a rope beneath it. PolitiFact and numerous other news outlets concluded that the person wasn’t hanged but wearing a harness and waving his arms.
Cruz eventually deleted a tweet that said: "This horrifying image encapsulates Joe Biden’s Afghanistan catastrophe: The Taliban hanging a man from an American Blackhawk helicopter. Tragic. Unimaginable."
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Trump Jr., meanwhile, changed his Twitter banner to the image of Biden’s name with a helicopter and someone hanging from it.
"Donald Trump Jr. has changed his Twitter banner to a Biden-mocking image featuring a man appearing to be hanged from a helicopter, though, again, the helicopter execution story was imaginary," CNN reporter Daniel Dale posted Sept. 1, 2021, on what is now X.
Headlines from the same day echoed this sentiment.
"Don Jr. changes his Twitter image to mock Biden over false Taliban hanging story," said Mediaite, a site that covers the intersection of media and politics.
"Donald Trump. Jr promotes fake helicopter execution story in new Biden attack," online publication Raw Story said.
As of Nov. 4, Trump Jr.’s X banner no longer showed the image but instead promoted his podcast, "Triggered." His Truth Social account does use the helicopter image as his banner, however.
But we rate claims the image shows Biden hanging from a helicopter False.
Our Sources
Threads post, Oct. 28, 2024
PolitiFact, Person hanging from helicopter in Afghanistan appears to be wearing a harness, Aug. 31, 2021
Raw Story, Donald Trump Jr. promotes fake helicopter execution story in new Biden attack, Sept. 1, 2021
Mediaite, Don Jr. Changes Twitter Image to Mock Biden Over False Taliban Hanging Story, Sept. 1, 2021
CNN, Fact check: Prominent Republicans spread false claim about Taliban executing a man from a helicopter, Aug. 31, 2021
X post, Sept. 1, 2021
X account, visited Nov. 4, 2024
Truth Social account, visited Nov. 4, 2024
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No, this isn’t an image of Joe Biden hanging from a helicopter on Donald Trump Jr.’s Truth Social
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