| USA TODAY
National Guard forces troops out of Capitol and sends to garage
National Guard troops were forced out of the U.S. Capitol which they used for rest breaks and moved to a nearby garage is back at Capitol.
USA TODAY
The allegation: Images of Trump with troops and the national guard with backs pointed to Biden’s motorcade show that Trump prefers military
A meme uses two images of then-President Donald Trump speaking at a military event and President Joe Biden’s presidential Inauguration Day motorcade to draw a false comparison between Trump and Biden’s relationship with troops.
‘Look at the big difference! We have yet to confirm whether the backing against Biden was done intentionally or that it was a safety issue, but the optics are harmful to him, ‘the Hip Hop Patriot captioned the meme in a Facebook post on January 21 .
USA TODAY previously checked reports from the Hip Hop Patriot, whose real name is Jeremy Herrell.
“We all know, including you, that our military supports President Trump over Biden,” he wrote in an email today. “You will not find pictures of troops with their backs to President Trump. He honors them and they love it! Biden should search their social media to see if they are loyal to him like a dictator.”
Fact check: What is true of the Capitol riot, from antifa to BLM to Chuck Norris?
The national guard turned his back on the Biden motor bridge due to the security protocol
The top image of the meme, taken by photographer Jim Watson, shows the back of Trump’s head when he shook the service member’s hands in 2017.
“US President Donald Trump (bottom L back to camera) greets US troops after speaking to US military personnel at the Yokota Air Force Base at Fussa in Tokyo on November 5, 2017,” the caption read on Getty Images. “Trump hit Japan on November 5 and embarked on the first stages of a high-profile Asia tour, which will be dominated by rising tensions with North Korea’s nuclear weapon.”
The bottom image is from a viral video of National Guard members defending Biden’s Inauguration Day motoring. It shows the members of the Guard who turned away from the presidential motorway on January 20th. After pro-Trump rioters attacked the Capitol during a deadly uprising on January 6, nearly 26,000 troops were called to DC to provide additional security during the inauguration.
The video was widely shared and misrepresented by some online as proof that members of Guard did not approve of Biden’s presidency and expressed their opinion by turning their backs. According to a fact check of the TODAY, the members of the Guard stood in different directions to protect the car bridge from potential threats, in accordance with previous safety protocols. USA TODAY viewed the video clip as missing context because it may have been misleading.
Neither the photo nor the video was proof that Biden is unpopular with service members.
Fact check: Meme with images of Biden, Trump inaugurations draw false comparison
Our rating: Missing context
We are reviewing a meme comparing then-President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden’s relationship with the military. MISSING CONTEXT, because without additional information the meme can be misleading. The image of members of the National Guard with their backs to Biden’s Inauguration Day motorcade shows how they execute a security protocol.
Our sources for fact checking:
- USA TODAY, December 16, “Fact check: Georgia’s claim that Biden rose after pipe burst on the counter is false”
- USA TODAY, November 12, “Fact Test: CNN Never Called Joe Biden – or Moved In – Arizona”
- Getty Images, visited on January 25, “TOPSHOT-JAPAN-US-DIPLOMACY”
- USA TODAY, January 11, “‘It Could Have Been Much, Much Worse’: Video, Evidence Reports Reveal a Dark Intent of Some Capitol Rioters”
- Associated Press, January 22, “National Guard troops return to Capitol after moving into garage”
- USA TODAY, January 25, “Fact check: members of the National Guard did not deviate from Biden’s inauguration day”
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