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Actor Ben Affleck didn’t wear this anti-MAGA t-shirt

A photo of Ben Affleck wearing a provocative anti-MAGA t-shirt is spreading online, but it’s not authentic. The original photo was taken in 2015, and the shirt Affleck actually wore was a plain t-shirt. Let’s take a look at the facts.

A Facebook post with a photo of the actor Ben Affleck supposedly wearing a t-shirt that reads “Losers in 1865, losers in 1945, losers in 2020.” Next to the dates are a Confederate flag, a Nazi flag and a red MAGA hat. The News Literacy Project added a label that says “DOCTORED IMAGE” and included an image of Affleck’s authentic shirt, which was plain.
The actor Ben Affleck did not wear a shirt that compared MAGA supporters to Confederates and Nazis, calling them all “losers.”
The authentic photo of Affleck — which was taken in 2015 — shows that he was actually wearing a plain t-shirt.

NewsLit takeaway

Digitally altering celebrities’ shirts in photos by adding political messages is a common disinformation tactic designed to spread by appealing to those who support the message. In many cases, the provocative t-shirts can be easily found for sale online, which is one possible motivation for their creation and circulation.

Featured Fact-Checks

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