Advertisement

Fact check: Photo of Chris Evans in 'Keep America Trumpless' T-shirt is altered

The claim: Photo shows Chris Evans wearing a 'Keep America Trumpless' T-shirt

During the pandemic, Chris Evans set aside his role as “Captain America” in Marvel films and increased his engagement with the public in a different context: as a political activist.

He co-created a website called A Starting Point to encourage bipartisan debate, USA TODAY reported in July 2020. Evans has also been open on Twitter about his opposition to former President Donald Trump.

However, anti-Trump social media users were mistaken when they circulated a photo showing Evans in a “Keep America Trumpless” T-shirt on Facebook and Twitter in September 2021.

“Chris Evans is right on the mark with this tee shirt,” read a tweet by @TrialLawyerRich that received over 10,000 likes in less than a week. USA TODAY reached out to users who posted the photo for comment.

But the photo is altered from a snapshot Evans took with a fan in 2019, long before Trump was voted out of office. Evans' shirt actually said "State of Oregon 1859."

Fact check: Photo of Whoopi Goldberg in 'Trump' T-shirt is altered

Photo originally showed Evans in Oregon T-shirt

The T-shirt in the altered photo is sold on online platforms like Etsy and TeeChip, but it’s not what Evans was actually wearing in the photo. The photo is altered from a snapshot Evans took with a fan at a Washington, D.C., gym in 2019.

Chris Evans poses for a portrait on April 3, 2017 in Studio City, Calif.
Chris Evans poses for a portrait on April 3, 2017 in Studio City, Calif.

Twitter fan account @goodguyevans posted a tweet on Sept. 12, 2019, with the uncropped version of that photo, as well as a similar photo at a different angle. The tweet credited two Instagram users for the photos, both of whom tagged the location of the photos as Equinox Sports Club in Washington, D.C.

The image that Instagram user Sydney Rexroad (@sydkneed) posted of herself and Evans seems to be an uncropped version of the viral photo of Evans wearing a "Keep America Trumpless" shirt.

"He was definitely not wearing that shirt when I met him," Rexroad told USA TODAY in an Instagram message.

In the image, she poses with Evans, whose shirt has a yellow logo reading “State of Oregon 1859."

A similar photo was taken on Sept. 10, 2019, showing Evans posing with a different fan but wearing the same shirt. Personal trainer John Kim posted the photo to his Instagram on Sept. 12, 2019.

"Tried to convince Captain America to let me be his trainer," Kim captioned the photo. "Think about it... Captain America with my legs?!?!?"

Fact check: Image of Ron DeSantis posing with T-shirt that mocks masks is altered

Our rating: Altered

We rate ALTERED a photo purportedly showing Chris Evans wearing a “Keep America Trumpless” T-shirt, based on our research. The original, uncropped version of the photo was taken at a Washington, D.C., gym on Sept. 10, 2019, and shows that Evans' T-shirt says "State of Oregon 1859." Another photo from that date and location shows Evans wearing the same shirt.

Fact check: An altered photo shows Mike Tyson wearing an anti-vaccination T-shirt

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Photo of Chris Evans in anti-Trump T-shirt is altered