On 06 January 2024, Justin Trudeau announced his resignation as the Prime Minister of Canada, citing dissatisfaction with his leadership. In the wake of this announcement, a video is going viral on social media (here, here, and here), claiming to show a large crowd celebrating Trudeau’s resignation when it is shown on a screen. Let’s verify the truth behind the video in this article.
Claim: The video shows a large crowd celebrating Justin Trudeau’s resignation announcement.
Fact: The viral video was edited to falsely show Justin Trudeau’s resignation announcement on a screen. The original video features fans at Ashton Gate Stadium during Euro 2016, celebrating Daniel Sturridge’s late winner for England against Wales. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video led us to the original video (archived) published on the YouTube channel of Heart News West Country, dated 17 June 2016. The video features the same crowd erupting in cheers while watching a football match. The description of the video revealed that the visuals are from fans at Ashton Gate Stadium watching Euro 2016 on a big screen, celebrating Daniel Sturridge’s late winner for England against Wales. We also came across a CBS Sports news article featuring the same video (here).
A comparison of the viral video and the original revealed that they are identical, except for the clip displayed on the screen.
We used relevant keywords and found a similar video (archived) posted on the Facebook page of BBC Bristol titled “England fans celebrate win against Wales, Bristol.” This confirmed that the viral video was edited, with the footage altered to falsely depict Justin Trudeau’s resignation announcement being displayed on a screen.
Factly had previously debunked the same video when a digitally altered version claimed to show fans’ reaction to the Kannada movie, ‘KGF’ in America.
To sum up, a video of football fans celebrating England’s Euro 2016 win is digitally altered to show the crowd celebrating Justin Trudeau’s resignation.
