Trump ally fact checked after claiming a Rod Stewart concert was a MAGA rally

Misinformation is everywhere online and facts surrounding the upcoming US presidential race are harder than ever to validate – especially when key allies of the main players are sharing fake images, it turns out.

Roger Stone has been a key ally of Donald Trump and Republican operative for years, and he posted a picture claiming to show tens of thousands of people who had turned out to see the former president at a rally in Wildwood, New Jersey.

However, as it turns out, the picture was actually an image of a Rod Stewart concert from 1994 which took place in Rio De Janeiro.

Posting the image on Sunday, Stone wrote: “Yeah , New Jersey is in play for @realDonaldTrump. Could Joe Biden draw a crowd like this?”

However, people quickly noticed the misleading image and it was hit with a community note.

It read: “This is a photo from a Rod Stewart concert almost 30 years ago.

“‘On December 31, 1994, Rod Stewart performed at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro in front of an estimated 3.5 to 4.2 million people.’”

Roger Stone is a former aide to TrumpJoe Raedle/Getty Images

It comes as people on social media disputed the size of the crowd that came to support Trump on Saturday (May 11).

While a spokesperson for the city of Wildwood claimed that up to 100,000 people attended the rally, the audience appeared to get smaller as the end of Trump’s 90-minute speech approached.

Trump himself is being mocked after claiming the crowd at the rally was bigger than a Bruce Springsteen concert.

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