https://apnews.com/afs:Content:8983690810
Old image edited to show White House black out
By AMANDA SEITZ
2-3 minutes
CLAIM: Photo shows all the exterior and interior lights out at the White House on Sunday night, as President Donald Trump hid in a bunker.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The original photo was posted to a stock image site in 2015, before Trump took office.
THE FACTS: An image shared thousands of times online that appears to show all the lights out in and around the White House was taken before Trump even assumed office.
Associated Press photographs taken Sunday night show the front of the White House illuminated by exterior lights and the portico lantern turned on, but the mansion’s interior is dark.
The viral photo, which has been edited, can be found on Getty Image’s stock website, where it was uploaded in December 2015. In the original, the lantern hanging in the White House portico is lit, along with several lights that surround the fountain in the front lawn.
The edited version that is being widely shared online has been darkened, and manipulated to remove the lit lantern.
Full Coverage: AP Fact Check
Dozens of social media users shared the edited 2015 photo, claiming it showed the White House on Sunday night.
“Lights out at #WhiteHouse is a powerful symbol,” one Twitter user wrote.
Others claim it showed the White House Sunday night as Trump took shelter in a bunker. The Associated Press reported that Secret Service agents rushed the president to a White House bunker Friday night, as hundreds of protesters surrounded the executive mansion.