FACT CHECK: Will Trump and Pence Host a Defiant Inauguration in Florida on January 20?

The message dated December 16 comes in the form of an official announcement, apparently drafted and written by Bill Stepien, the head of the Trump campaign.

The Electoral College has officially accepted Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States and the Inauguration Day is just over another month's time. That's official. But President Donald Trump and his supporters somehow are yet to accept it. In fact, Trump supporters continue to claim that voter fraud cost him this year's election and are making all attempts to make people believe that he actually won the election.

On Thursday, a message started circulating on social media announcing an elaborate event that would be hosted by Trump in Florida, the same day of Biden's swearing-in ceremony. The message claims that the event will be a separate inauguration ceremony where in Trump will take oath as the president. The announcement comes in the form of a mass heading like other official announcements from the Trump campaign. The message has now gone viral, with social media users still trying to find out if such a ceremony has at all been planned.

Big Announcement

Trump Campaign Statement
fake Trump Campaign statement that is doing the rounds Twitter

The message is dated December 16 and comes in the form of an official announcement from the Trump campaign, apparently drafted and written by Bill Stepien, the head of the campaign. The message claims that it was not only planning to bypass Biden's presidential inauguration but also planning an alternate inauguration event with supporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort on January 20.

Moreover, the heading reads Trump-Pence in bold letters and huge fonts and looks exactly like the official messages from the Trump campaign. The message comes in the form of an advertisement and immediately went viral on social media.

Naturally, it took many by surprise as this has never happened in the history of the United States. In fact, Trump has neither conceded defeat nor has he shared his plans for the Inauguration Day. This made social media users guessing if Trump is really planning an alternate Inauguration event with his supporters.

Is It Authentic?

The so-called announcement took everyone by surprise because no one knows Trump's plans for the Inauguration Day. In fact, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has time and again declined to discuss Trump's plans for Inauguration Day, eliminating any possibility that she at one point promoted a January 20 event described in the social media posts.

Donald Trump
Twitter

This further created confusion. However, the message doing the rounds in social media doesn't seem to be authentic and is just another attempt by Trump's supporters to mislead people and prove that Trump didn't lose the election.

In fact, if a sitting president had actually planned any kind of celebration on that date, his campaign would have extensively advertised the plan and itinerary in its messages to supporters, given its history of communicating similar announcements.

Moreover, there was no such message circulated by the Trump campaign on December 16. The last message was a news released published on December 15 that was titled "Trump campaign statement on Joe Biden visit to Georgia." Also, the campaign website also doesn't show any such message of the Inauguration Day.

Given that there is no such official record of such an important message, it can be considered false and yet another attempt to prove that Trump is still in no mood to concede defeat. However, the message continues to be circulated on social media even today with many still confused about the authenticity of its contents.

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