Photo of Trump eating spaghetti during king’s speech is fake
An image recently posted to Instagram appears to show President Donald Trump being rude during a visit to the United Kingdom.
“Picture of Trump Eating Spaghetti Next to King Charles Goes Viral,” read the text on a photo, which shows the president sitting and stuffing a large forkful of spaghetti in his mouth as the king delivers a speech nearby.
The photo is part of a slide show, or Instagram carousel, of images and videos in which the user wrote, “As US president #DonaldTrump’s visit to the UK has now come to an end, we thought we’d put together some of the most memorable moments from his stay.”
But that photo isn’t real, according to Reuters. It has been altered to add the food.
Many of the commenters appeared to believe it was an authentic photo as some complained about Trump’s lack of table manners.
The post’s carousel included seven photos and four videos. Of those, all the videos and at least five of the photos were authentic.
The altered photo of Trump was taken from an image of a Sept. 17 state banquet at Windsor Castle. The original video from that event shows Trump listening, not eating, during the king’s speech. The plate of spaghetti was later added to the photo.
The menu for the Buckingham Palace banquet, released ahead of time, didn’t include spaghetti, Reuters said.
No evidence for RFK Jr.’s claim
Annunciation Catholic School students Harper Moyski, 10, and Fletcher Merkel, 8, were killed during an Aug. 27 shooting at the school, which also left 21 others injured. Officials said the shooter was former student Robin Westman, 23, who fired through windows at the Minneapolis, Minnesota, school before being found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot.
Following the shooting, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. linked that tragedy to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs.
“We’re launching studies on the potential contribution of some of the SSRI drugs and some of the other psychiatric drugs that might be contributing to violence,” Kennedy said during an Aug. 28 interview on “Fox & Friends.”
But there is no evidence that links the drug to that kind of violence, according to FactCheck.org.
“There’s no relationship between SSRIs and mass shootings,” Dr. Ragy Girgis, a clinical psychiatrist at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, told FactCheck.
Dr. Paul S. Appelbaum, a psychiatrist also at Columbia, told FactCheck that a perceived connection could be coincidental.
“If you think about the profile of typical mass shooters (young, male, socially isolated, nurturing grievances), it’s not surprising that some of them would be taking SSRIs for depression and/or anxiety,” he said. “But the available data do not suggest that SSRIs make them more likely to engage in mass shootings. Indeed, to the extent that SSRIs alleviate their distress, they may reduce the risk of violence.”
Coca-Cola not pulling sponsorship
There has been some political outrage since rapper Bad Bunny was announced as the scheduled halftime show at the next Super Bowl.
One recent X post makes it appear that Coca-Cola is considering withdrawing its support of the NFL’s biggest game.
“I will end my sponsorship of the Super Bowl if they let Bad Bunny perform at the Halftime – Coca Cola CEO James Quincey issues shocking ultimatum, NFL’S response stuns millions!,” read some of the text on the post, which includes photos of Quincey and Bunny.
Similar posts appeared on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, some showing people pouring Coca-Cola down the drain.
But these posts are false, according to PolitiFact.
A Coca-Cola spokesperson told PolitiFact the claims are fake. Coca-Cola no longer sponsors the Super Bowl and the company’s last ad during the game was in 2020.
PepsiCo, Coca-Cola’s main competitor, sponsored the Super Bowl halftime show from 2013-22, and is the official drink of the NFL.
Chimpanzees not domesticating penguins
A recent post included incredible photos along with an incredible claim.
“In a bizarre twist of nature, researchers in the Congo Basin have documented a troop of chimpanzees seemingly trying to domesticate a group of penguins,” the post read, which included photos of chimpanzees walking with, and carrying a group of penguins.
But this story is false, according to Snopes. Most notably because the two animals are not likely to get together since they don’t live in the same geographic area.
The report also mentions scientists researching the cross-species behavior, but there are no other news stories about the phenomenon or any other evidence to support this happening.
The photos in the post appear to have been created using artificial intelligence, Snopes said. There are details that make it clear the images are fake.
“The penguins appeared to be malformed, and the penguin the chimpanzee in the back held appeared to be largely beneath the chimpanzee's arms, with its weight seemingly unsupported,” the report said.
• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.