On August 15, social media users were sharing a video of US presidential candidate Donald Trump defending the niqab, arguing that the niqab is a deeply rooted cultural tradition that Afghan women choose and prefer. However, the video is actually from October 2015 when Trump mocked Afghan women at a rally in New Hampshire.
As the US presidential election in November 2024 approaches, Trump is ramping up his campaign efforts in key battleground states. Trump’s campaign strategy focused on strengthening his base and appealing to undecided voters by addressing issues such as economic policies, immigration, and national security.
On August 15, 2024, a video was shared on the social media platform X by a user, describing himself as his geopolitical analyst, of Trump addressing the public with the title. Afghanistani women have been wearing the veil for thousands of years. They want to wear them. What are we getting into? — Donald Trump.
More than 2 million people have viewed this post.
An Afghan user shared the same video with the same caption and it has been viewed by more than 294,000 people.
The same claim was also shared on social media platform Instagram where it was liked by more than 1150 people.
The claim’s virality and public interest in the upcoming US election and Trump’s actions, often seen as anti-Muslim, prompted a fact-check to determine the veracity of the claim.
Keyword searches for “Donald Trump”, “mask” and “makeup” to investigate the video yielded the same video uploaded by CNN on YouTube on July 21, 2016, The headline was, “Trump on Burqa-wearing Women – Don’t Need Makeup.”
The search also showed news stories published by various international news organizations such as CNN on October 26, 2015, with the headline, “Donald Trump’s decision on burqas: Muslim women may prefer them.”
According to news reports, Trump quipped at a rally in New Hampshire on October 26, 2015, that women in the Islamic world would prefer to wear the burqa because it eliminates the need for makeup.
Trump jokingly suggested that wearing a burqa is easier because it allows women to avoid wearing makeup, adding that if he were a woman, he would prefer it too.
Another similar story was published by the American news website The Cut on October 26, 2015 with the headline, “Trump says burqa is easier to wear because you skip makeup”.
So fact-checking shows that Trump’s claim about the video defending Afghan women’s veils is misleading.
The video dates back to October 2015, when Trump mocked the niqab at a rally in New Hampshire. Sharing the video without giving the date, location and context can mislead the public and manipulate voter sentiments and public opinion, especially among American Muslims, ahead of the US elections.
