UCLA campus footage misrepresented as Venezuelan celebration
A video shot from above showing a crowd running on a dark street circulated with the claim that it showed Venezuelans celebrating after Maduro’s capture. The claim is false, the AP reported. The video shows students at the University of California, Los Angeles, participating in the “Undie Run,” a quarterly tradition during which students run in their underwear on Wednesday night of finals week. The original was posted to TikTok on Dec. 11 with the caption “ants #uclarundierun.”
Trump shared a version of the video on Truth Social with ominous background music added and the caption, “Venezuela celebrates, Democrats cry.” UCLA landmarks are clearly visible in the footage, the AP said, including the Wasserman Football Center and the Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center. The crowd is shown gathered at the intersection of Strathmore Place and Charles E. Young Drive West, before the tunnel where the run begins.
July 2024 Caracas protest footage repurposed
A second video, shot during the day from above and showing a street packed with people, also circulated with the false claim that it showed Venezuelans celebrating the end of the Maduro administration. The AP identified it as a massive demonstration that took place in Caracas in July 2024, in which protesters contested the country’s disputed presidential election.
Trump shared a version on Truth Social alongside a screenshot of an X post that read: “INCREDIBLE! Millions of Venezuelans are celebrating the news of the collapse of the Maduro regime.” The original was posted to Instagram on July 30, 2024, and shows a float carrying Venezuelan opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González — identifiable in images published by news outlets at the time of the demonstration.
AI-generated images of Maduro detention spread across platforms
AI-fabricated images purportedly showing Maduro being detained by U.S. military and Drug Enforcement Administration agents spread across multiple platforms, the AP reported. Many of the images carried a watermark crediting an Instagram user who describes himself as a “professional in artificial intelligence.” The images no longer appeared on the user’s profile at the time of the AP’s review, though some remained accessible in an archived version.
In the fabricated images, a man purportedly identified as Maduro is surrounded by figures in military-style uniforms, some bearing an American flag patch and others a patch reading “DEA,” with a small plane visible in the background.
Trump shared one such image Saturday morning on Truth Social with the caption, “Nicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima.” The man depicted wears a gray sweatsuit with both ears and eyes covered.