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Trump didn’t wear black and gold to Madison Square Garden

Posted on by L. Dreeye
Trump didn’t wear black and gold to Madison Square Garden

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Claim: Trump wore black and gold to Madison Square Garden rally in solidarity with Proud Boys

An Oct. 27 Facebook post (direct link, archived link) shows an image of former President Donald Trump wearing a black suit, gold tie and a black and gold hat with the words “Make America Great Again.” It also features a men’s black and yellow shirt with the words “Spokane Proud Boys” on it.

“Every neo-Nazi knows the significance of Sunday’s Trump rally at Madison Square Garden, commemorating the famous 1939 Nazi rally held there,” reads the text above the images, which are taken from a post originally published on X, previously on Twitter. “As a signal, last night Trump put aside his traditional blue suit and red tie for the black and gold Proud Boys suit. He’s getting the band back together.”

The post was shared more than 1,900 times in three days. Other versions of the complaint were posted on Facebook and Threads.

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Our rating: False

At his rally at Madison Square Garden, Trump wore red and blue rather than black and gold. The photo of Trump was taken at a rally in Michigan two days before his event in New York.

Photo of Trump taken before the rally at Madison Square Garden

Trump capped off his final weekend before the election with a rally on October 27 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Some social media users were quick to point out that in 1939, a rally by the American pro-Nazi group the German-American Bund was held at this site – a different location.

Others said the former president wore the signature colors of the extremist group Proud Boys at the rally.

But the photo of Trump, dressed in black and gold, was taken during an Oct. 25 rally in Traverse City, Michigan, according to the photo’s caption on Getty Images. Other photos taken during the event show the former president wearing the same outfit.

Two days later, Trump was photographed wearing a blue suit and red tie without a hat at a rally in Madison Square Garden.

The photo of a man wearing a black and yellow shirt was taken at a 2020 Proud Boys rally in Portland, Oregon, as seen on stock image website Shutterstock. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the colors black and yellow are commonly associated with the Proud Boys because of its members’ signature signature: “black polos with yellow trim, Fred Perry knockoff.”

Fact checking: No, The Atlantic did not publish an article with a headline saying Trump is Hitler.

Critics linked Trump and the Proud Boys because he refused to condemn the extremist group during the 2020 presidential debate, instead telling the group to “stand back and wait.” John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff, also told the New York Times that Trump made admiring statements about Adolf Hitler, and an Oct. 22 Atlantic article cited an instance in which Trump allegedly spoke favorably of Hitler’s generals.

USA TODAY reached out to Trump representatives and the users who shared the post for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

PolitiFact and Check Your Fact also refuted this claim.

Our Fact Checking Sources:

  • Getty Images, October 25, Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump holds a rally in Traverse City, Michigan
  • Getty Images, October 25, Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump holds a rally in Traverse City, Michigan
  • Getty Images, October 25, Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump holds a rally in Traverse City, Michigan
  • Getty Images, October 27, Trump Campaign
  • Getty Images, October 27, USA-Voting-Politics-Trump
  • Shutterstock September 26, 2020 The Proud Boys Rally in Portland, Oregon, Portland, USA – September 26, 2020

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