Trump Criticized over 'Staged' Photos Showing Him Hard at Work in Hospital
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Two pictures purportedly showing coronavirus-stricken US President Donald Trump working at the hospital throughout the day turned out to have been taken just 10 minutes apart, based on the photos' metadata.
And a document that he appeared to be signing was apparently a blank piece of paper.
The findings, which went viral on Twitter under the hashtag #Staged, are the latest examples of misinformation emerging from the US President's campaign, adding to his administration's credibility crisis, The Straits Times reported.
The White House had on Saturday released the photos of Trump appearing to work hard while receiving COVID-19 treatment in hospital.
One of the images showed Trump in a plain white shirt, seated at the head of a long table sifting through documents. The other showed him in a dark suit jacket at a round table, writing on a document.
The photos appeared to show the President working in two different places at two different times of the day. His daughter, Ivanka Trump, shared one of the pictures on Twitter, writing: "Nothing can stop him from working for the American people. RELENTLESS!"
But Jon Ostrower, editor-in-chief of aviation news site The Air Current, pointed out that data embedded in the images showed they that were taken around the same time.
"The photos released by the WH tonight of the President working at Walter Reed were taken 10 minutes apart at 5:25:39 pm and 5:35:40 pm ET Saturday, according to the Exit data embedded in both AP wire postings that were shared by the White House this evening," he tweeted.
White House reporter Andrew Feinberg also tweeted that upon zooming in one of the images, Trump "appears to be signing his name to a blank sheet of paper".
Both posts quickly went viral on social media, with readers accusing Trump and his administration of staging the photos.
"We're living through the reality TV presidency," one widely shared tweet read.
Others raised issue with Trump's lack of any personal protective equipment in the photos.
"It's genuinely appalling that he still won't wear a mask. I hope his vanity hasn't caused the photographer to be infected," another Twitter user wrote.
