The Republican candidate for the United States elections, Donald Trump, has used misinformation to his advantage, although he has also been the subject of falsehoods ranging from claims about his health due to his age (78 years) to questions about the veracity of the shooting incident in which he was injured last July.
In the context of what are considered the most contested elections in the last century in the country, social media profiles seek to undermine support for one candidate or another for the White House using different disinformation strategies. However, the campaigns of false information directed at the tycoon have been less intense compared to those aimed at the Democrats.
One of the tactics employed has been the manipulation of images, such as one circulated on a social network showing Trump without makeup or his characteristic hairstyle to artificially age him and present him as too old to be president. Despite garnering thousands of views, the image was debunked when compared to the original photo.
Another piece of false content circulated on social media involved a recent interview on Fox News, where it was falsely claimed that Trump needed to sit on a towel to avoid staining the chair in case of an incontinence accident. These disinformation strategies have not been limited to the Republican candidate, as President Joe Biden has also been the target of falsehoods regarding his health and mental state.
The two assassination attempts against Trump have also been a topic of controversy, with disinformers fueling suspicions that the attacks were a hoax prepared by Republicans to gain votes. After one of the attacks, in which he was shot in July, Trump reappeared in public with his right ear bandaged, although social media profiles circulated an old image to suggest that the incident had not actually occurred.
