Numerous Fox News hosts have been accused of lying after they claimed hundreds of Trump supporters ‘spontaneously’ lined the streets of Florida to wave to the former president on President’s Day.
Donald Trump was returning from a golfing trip to his current home in West Palm Beach, Florida. Before he got back to his front door he was greeted with a site not dissimilar to the scenes that used to been seen at his campaign rallies with the MAGA faithful wearing their red caps and armed with flags.
Trump’s motorcade stopped to wave to the fans who was probably delighted to see all of his fans out in force again and he wasn't the only one who was pleased. Both Sean Hannity and Pete Hegseth, one of the many co-hosts on Fox and Friends, hailed this moment has a completely ‘spontaneous’ event and proof that there are still legions of people who support Trump.
Hegseth said, with his co-hosts agreeing, “That was not a planned event. That was spontaneous on President’s Day for Donald Trump.”
However, evidence would suggest that this was far from a ‘spontaneous’ show of support for Trump. As Brianna Keilar pointed out on CNN, “that wasn’t spontaneous. There is an organised police presence that was ready for the event and even far-right media had been promoting the event for a week.”
Furthermore, when Trump’s former chief of staff and director of social media Dan Scavino, shared a video of the gathering. Although he didn’t use the word spontaneous he did appear to suggest that he wasn’t expecting that many people would turn up.
This is unbelievable! 45 returns to Mar-a-Lago this afternoon, after an awesome day out on the links....to this....… https://t.co/ecdlh8TFE9— Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸🦅 (@Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸🦅) 1613424847
Many of the replies to Scavino’s tweet included images of online adverts for the event which encouraged people to meet on the corner of Parker Avenue and Southern Blvd so they could show their gratitude to Trump on President’s Day.
Scavino’s tweet makes it sound like a spontaneous crowd of devoted fans formed outside of Mar-a-Lago to celebrate f… https://t.co/Hx8f3TVpLg— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivia Nuzzi) 1613427699
@KevinlyFather @DanScavino They have been announcing this for a week and that’s all that showed up 😂 https://t.co/iSm4MTnfa1— TWalsh (@TWalsh) 1613428924
@DanScavino Almost like it's been promoted.... https://t.co/fvlkfB9e7c— Firearms Mom, runner, (@Firearms Mom, runner,) 1613428083
@DanScavino Completely out of the blue, these "Patriots" showed up! https://t.co/8aQKjLG2it— enrich12 (@enrich12) 1613473256
Regardless of whether this was random or not, it would suggest that there is still an appetite for Trump is some areas of the United States, despite him getting something of a cold reception on his return to Florida.
More: Why Trump’s exit speech was another example of the lengths he’ll go for pride