Video shows line for Tim Walz rally, not mpox tests | Fact check

The claim: Video shows 'huge lines' for mpox testing in Nebraska

An Aug. 18 Threads video (direct link, archive link) shows a large crowd in a grassy field and several buildings in the distance.

"Huge lines to get tested for monkeypox in Omaha, Nebraska. How are there this many stupid people in one place," reads the post.

The post was liked more than 100 times in three days. A similar post on X, formerly Twitter, was reposted more than 700 times in four days.

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Our rating: False

The video doesn't show people lined up to get tested for mpox, formerly known as monkeypox. It shows a line for a campaign rally held by vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz on Aug. 17 in La Vista, Nebraska, a city spokesperson said.

News report documented crowd waiting outside Nebraska theater

Mitch Beaumont, a spokesperson for the city of La Vista, a suburb of Omaha, said the video does not show people waiting to get tested for mpox. Mpox is a viral disease that prompted the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency in August because of a surge in cases in Africa.

"I can tell you without any doubt in my mind that this is completely false," Beaumont said in a phone interview. "These people are in line to attend a rally for Tim Walz and nothing else."

Walz, who is Minnesota's governor and Vice President Kamala Harris's running mate in the 2024 presidential election, held a campaign rally Aug. 17 at The Astro Theater in La Vista City Centre, a commercial-residential entertainment district.

The background of the video shows buildings and structures of the La Vista City Centre.

Beaumont said he pulled up to the event on the morning of Aug. 17 and was stunned by the large number of people who were waiting in line. The rally accommodated an overflow crowd at the theater's outdoor amphitheater, he said.

Fact check: No, WHO didn't order nations to prepare for mpox 'mega lockdowns'

The Omaha World-Herald also published photos of people queued outside the event venue that match the scene in the video in its report about Walz's rally in Nebraska, his home state.

And before the video was wrongly described as showing people waiting to get tested for mpox, it was shared by social media users who correctly linked it to Walz's rally.

The Threads user who shared the post did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Check Your Fact also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources:

• Mitch Beaumont, Aug. 21, Phone interview with USA TODAY

• Google Maps, June 2022, La Vista City Centre, La Vista, Nebraska

• Omaha World-Herald, Aug. 17, Recap: VP candidate Tim Walz rallies in Omaha metro — 'It feels pretty good to be back home'

• @john_jankovich, Aug. 17, X post

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video shows line for Walz rally, not mpox tests in Omaha | Fact check