Fact check: Donald Trump wore pants properly, images and videos show

Chiara Vercellone, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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The claim: Donald Trump wore pants backward during speech

During his first public speech in three months, former President Donald Trump spoke about the 2020 election, COVID-19 and his successor's administration. Some Americans focused on his attire, specifically the way Trump wore his pants.

"Others are noting this, but it can't be shared enough: Donald Trump gave his speech today with his pants on backwards," a screengrab of a tweet shared on Instagram read.

Accompanying the text is a cropped image of the front of Trump's pants. The image has been liked more than 75,000 times since it was posted on Instagram June 6.

USA TODAY was unable to reach the user for comment.

Trump spoke at the North Carolina Republican Party convention June 5. In his 90-minute speech, he endorsed Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C., for the U.S. Senate in 2022.

The image in the Instagram post, which is part of a video that went viral on Twitter, was taken after Trump welcomed Budd to the stage.

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It doesn't show Trump wearing his pants backward, according to a USA TODAY analysis of video and images of the event.

Trump did not wear pants backward

The claims originated after a close-up video of the front of Trump's pants doesn't clearly show a zipper.

Though Trump stood behind a lectern for the majority of his speech, footage from C-SPAN briefly captured him standing to the side as Budd took over 23 minutes into the video.

The footage of his pants doesn't indicate they were backward.

A clearer video, posted by Fox Carolina, shows a zipper, indicating Trump's pants faced the right way.

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Additional pictures taken throughout the night and posted by Getty Images show Trump wore pants with a zipper in the front.

Our rating: False

We rate the claim that Trump wore his pants backward during the North Carolina Republican Party convention FALSE, based on our research. Video footage and images taken throughout the night show the pants had a zipper in the front, indicating Trump wore his pants facing the right way.

Our fact check sources:

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Trump didn't wear pants backward in North Carolina speech