Old photo from Brazil shared as recent rally by Donald Trump in New Jersey

What is the claim?

A photograph of a large gathering of people on a beach is being shared on social media platforms, claiming to show the crowd present at a rally for former U.S. President Donald Trump at Wildwood, New Jersey. Trump is running for re-election for a second non-consecutive term after losing to current President Joe Biden in 2020.  

These posts were shared after Trump's recent Wildwood rally and have gained much attention on X (formerly Twitter). One X user posted the photo along with the caption on May 12, 2024, "Yeah, New Jersey is in play for @realDonaldTrump. Could Joe Biden draw a crowd like this?" Archives of these posts can be found here, here, and here.

Screengrabs of users claiming that these photographs are from a recent Wildwood rally by Donald Trump. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, we found that the photo shows Copacabana beach in Brazil and is unrelated to Trump’s recent oceanside rally in Wildwood.

What does the photo show? 

Upon carrying out a reverse image search, we found several reports that carried the same photo. Some of the reports, going back as far as 2012, linked this photo to a concert held by British singer Rod Stewart on December 31, 1994, at Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro. 

However, several other social media accounts and services (archived here and here) claimed that the image showed a 2006 concert held on the same beach by the band The Rolling Stones. 

We found photos of the Copacabana beach from February 2006, available on photo-hosting websites like Getty Images and Alamy, showing the stage built for the concert on the beach, which closely resembled the viral photo.

 Screenshots of photos from Alamy and Getty. (Source: Alamy/Getty Image/ Modified by Logically Facts)

While we were unable to independently ascertain what event the viral photo showed, since the viral photo has been shared in multiple reports, it clearly does not show a recent rally held by Trump.

The location of the photo 

Further, we were able to confirm that the viral image shows not Trump’s Wildwood oceanside rally but a beach in Brazil.

While the viral photo has been cropped slightly, the original version shows three mountains lining the sea. A comparison with an image of the beach from Alamy shows the same three mountains shaped similarly.

A comparison of the viral photo and the Alamy photo of Copacabana beach. (Source: X/Alamy/Modified by Logically Facts) 

We also accessed Google Street View images of Copacabana Beach and found that the lush green mountains of the same shape and several tall white buildings visible in the viral photo can be seen clearly here.

A comparison between the viral photo and the Google Maps view of Copacabana beach. (Source: X/Google Maps/Modified by Logically Facts)

While Trump’s recent Wildwood rally was held near a beach on the Atlantic coastline and while tens of thousands of supporters were present, photos from the venue do not resemble the viral image. 

The verdict

The viral photo does not show a recent Trump rally in Wildwood, New Jersey. It actually shows a much older event held at the Copacabana beach in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.