Manipulated image shows Melania Trump holding funeral booklet upside-down

The claim: Image shows Melania Trump holding Jimmy Carter’s funeral program upside-down

A Jan. 9 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows what appears to be a screenshot of NBC News coverage showing incoming first lady Melania Trump and former President Barack Obama holding booklets at the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter. President-elect Donald Trump is seated between them.

“Here’s a beautiful picture of Obama showing two illiterates how to read,” text on the image reads. “Melania, you’re holding it upside down.”

The post was shared more than 400 times in four days. Another Facebook post with a similar version of the image was shared more than 700 times before it was labeled as satire.

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Our rating: Manipulated media

The image is digitally altered. NBC News footage from the event shows Melania Trump holding the funeral program right-side up.

Image of Melania Trump is edited to mislead

The state funeral for Carter, who served as the 39th U.S. president and died at 100, was held Jan. 9 at the Washington National Cathedral. A digital version of the program for the service, uploaded to the church’s website, includes the presidential seal prominently placed on the front page, with Carter’s name appearing below it.

The Facebook post claims NBC News captured Melania Trump holding her program upside-down during the service. The image shows the presidential seal on what would be the back page of her booklet, and there is text above the seal rather than below it.

But the claim is wrong. The incoming first lady held her booklet right-side up.

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NBC News shared footage of the service that makes it clear the image in the post was digitally manipulated to add the upside-down presidential seal and text to the back page of Melania Trump’s funeral program. The video shows the back page of her program was blank when the screenshot was taken. The video also shows Obama held his program the same way as Melania Trump.

USA TODAY has debunked an array of social media claims involving the former and now incoming first lady, including a post that wrongly implied an image of Donald Trump peeking at his wife’s ballot was from the 2024 presidential election, a post that falsely claimed Melania Trump announced her desire for a divorce and a post falsely claiming her son Barron Trump would not be a U.S. citizen under Donald Trump’s proposal to end birthright citizenship.

USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Lead Stories also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Melania Trump held Jimmy Carter program right-side up | Fact check