No, Trump didn't address wrong state at Pennsylvania rally | Fact check
The claim: Trump mistakenly addressed North Carolina at Pennsylvania rally
An Aug. 17 Threads post (direct link, archive link) shows former President Donald Trump speaking at a rally.
"A guy's waiting with his family for three and a half, four days," Trump says. "They have a tent, and the tent is set up. They have hundreds of them. And they wait. And then I walk in, speak for 15 minutes and leave. I don't know, somehow, would that be okay, North Carolina? I don't think so."
The post's caption tags numerous news outlets before saying, "YOUR boy Trump was giving another one of his incoherent rambling rally speeches in Pennsylvania and THOUGHT HE WAS IN NORTH CAROLINA. Can you imagine if President Biden did that? They wouldn’t shut up for weeks talking about it."
The thread was reposted more than 200 times in five days. Other versions of the post were shared on Instagram and Threads. Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign also shared a version of the claim on X, formerly Twitter.
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Our rating: False
Trump didn't misspeak, he was addressing a group of supporters in the audience who had traveled from North Carolina.
Video shows Trump speaking to North Carolina followers
The clip of Trump speaking at his Aug. 17 Pennsylvania rally omits preceding footage that makes clear who Trump was addressing..
Earlier in the event, Trump addressed a group of diehard supporters called "Front Row Joes," who routinely travel from out of state and camp out for hours to attend his rallies.
"Look at all these 'Front Row Joes' over here," he says, pointing to a group to his left. "You know we have a couple of groups here, they're at about 222 events. ... But I have another group from a place called North Carolina. Has anybody ever heard of North, we love North Carolina."
Fact check: Viral clip shows Trump pausing to call medic for audience member
Later in the rally, Trump again looks to his left at the same group group as he asks, "Would that be ok, North Carolina?" This is the clip shown in the Threads post.
The former president correctly addressed Pennsylvania numerous times throughout his speech.
His campaign debunked the claim in a reply to the Harris campaign's X post, saying, "President Trump was obviously referring to the Front Row Joes from North Carolina in the audience, whom he recognized earlier in his speech."
USA TODAY reached out to Harris' campaign for comment but did not receive a response. The user who shared the post couldn't be contacted.
Lead Stories, AFP and PolitiFact also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
PBS NewsHour (YouTube), Aug. 17, WATCH LIVE: Trump speaks at campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Trump War Room, Aug. 17, X post
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Clip of Trump speaking to fans misrepresented as gaffe | Fact check