Donald Trump Accused of Repeatedly 'Waving to Nobody'

Former President Donald Trump has been accused of "waving to nobody" in videos to create a sense of him meeting large audiences where there are none.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is set to face the incumbent Democratic president Joe Biden in November's presidential election, and so has stepped up his campaigning in visits across the country to meet prospective voters.

In one visit to Wisconsin on Tuesday, days after reports emerged that he had made negative comments about a city in the state, Trump stepped off an airplane and waved toward an apparent crowd. However, footage posted on X, formerly Twitter, by Margo Martin, his deputy director of communications, appeared to only show a car and a handful of people, according to critics.

In response, people on social media said that Trump was not waving at anyone. Newsweek could not ascertain whether or not the accusations that the former president is waving to nobody in this and other videos are true.

"This is nothing more than fake news being peddled by those who suffer from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Biden and his loser cronies should stop using cheap fakes to gaslight the American people," Steven Cheung, Trump's communications director, told Newsweek.

Trump critic and attorney Ron Filipkowski posted on X: "Trump arrives in WI [Wisconsin] today, and again waves to nobody."

Another account with 34,000 followers, Art Candee, wrote: "Waving to nobody per usual. He's not well."

"How many videos are there of Donald Trump waving to absolutely NOBODY?" another X user questioned.

Social-media users have also queried other videos of the Republican waving. One clip posted earlier this month showed Trump walking outside Trump Tower in New York and waving to the street. It is not clear whether or not there is an intended audience he was acknowledging.

The anti-Trump campaign group Republicans against Trump shared the video and wrote: "Who's Trump waving to?"

Meanwhile, a viral clip posted on X by Martin during the former president's visit to Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina, on May 26 on Memorial Day weekend also appeared to show the Republican waving to unseen people while surrounded by tarmac.

The fact-checking website Snopes says that it is unclear whether Trump was waving at people sitting in the grandstands at the venue or whether he was filming to create footage his team could later edit to make it look like he was waving to fans.

As election campaigning continues, there will likely be more scrutiny on the two candidates' behavior.

On June 27, Biden and Trump are set to square off in Atlanta for the first of two scheduled debates ahead of the general election on November 5.