An image shared to X suggests to show former president Donald Trump pictured beside a rescued hostage from Gaza.
Maybe b/c the kid that was kidnapped is standing next to him, which is why he’s smiling, you fucking deranged waste of oxygen pic.twitter.com/drbKeiTe1s
— 🇺🇸 MAGA Michelle S 🇺🇸 (@MAGAMichelleS69) October 21, 2024
Verdict: Misleading
The boy in the photo is the brother of a young man who is still in Hamas captivity, not the hostage himself.
Fact Check:
Trump attended an Oct. 7 remembrance event, marking the lives of those lost in the massacre by Hamas militants. The Associated Press reported that the former president visited the grave of Lubavitch Rebbe, the rabbi who led Chabad-Lubavitch movement.
A post on X describes a photo from the event as one which shows Trump beside a rescued hostage from the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
One post from actor Mark Hamill reads “who grins gleefully while holding a photo of a kidnap victim?” (RELATED: Image Claims To Show Israel Bombing Al-Qard Al-Hassan Foundation Association)
Who grins gleefully while holding a photo of a kidnap victim?
This isn’t thumbs-up at a gravestone bad, but I can’t help but wonder what the hostage’s parents expressions were when they saw this image?
The man is mentally deeply unwell.#WeirdAF pic.twitter.com/G4b8y2lccU— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) October 21, 2024
However, the boy in the photo is the brother of hostage Edan Alexander, who remains in captivity. The false statement claims that Trump is smiling in the photo because “the kid that was kidnapped is standing next to him.” The image accompanying it shows Trump, the hostage’s family and several others smiling at the camera.
Alexander is one of four American citizens still held captive by Hamas, per Fox News. The other three are 65-year-old Keith Siegel, 36-year-old Sagui Dekel-Chen and 22-year-old Omer Neutra. At the time of the Hamas-led massacre and kidnapping, Times of Israel reported that Alexander was born in Israel but had been raised in New Jersey.
As noted by Newsweek, the photo shared by Hamill is cropped to show only the former president and the poster of Alexander. The full image—shared via X by the Israel Heritage Foundation on Oct. 8—shows that Trump was having his picture taken alongside Alexander’s brother, Roy, and parents, Adi and Yael. The hostage’s family is also smiling towards the camera.