Fact Check: Photos Purportedly Show Trump Supporters Wearing Diapers at Rallies. Here's What We Found

Anna Rascouët-Paz
Updated ·5 min read
A person wearing a TRUMP hat stands near a crowd that holds flags that show support for former President Donald Trump.
Getty Images

Claim:

Donald Trump supporters wore diapers at rallies in spring 2024, holding signs that said "Real men wear diapers."

Rating:

Rating: True
Rating: True

In April and May 2024, reports circulated that supporters of 2024 Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump were gathering at rallies wearing diapers.

Several X users made posts with such pictures, and on April 24, 2024, the blog Dispatches from Trumpland posted photographs of one such rally, which reportedly took place in Pennsylvania. The same blog had another post about Trump and diapers on April 11.

According to the posts, Trump supporters began to appear at rallies donning diapers and holding signs that said "Real Men Wear Diapers." Some of them reportedly nicknamed the former president "Diaper Don," and one woman wore a sweater that said "Diapers Over Dems." We found some of the clothes they wore for sale, though we weren't able to establish when those designs were posted for purchase — it may have been after the purported trend went viral.

We noticed that the photographs that circulated all came from Dispatches from Trumpland, so we contacted the writers of the blog to ask for more details about the rallies. The writer replied that the photographs posted on April 11 had been taken at rallies in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Detroit. He added that he took the photographs in the April 24 post himself, in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.

He also shared an article from the Greensboro News & Record, published March 2, 2024, that included a photograph of a man it identified as Alfredo Alcala, who wore a red T-shirt that said "Real Men Wear Diapers."

He also shared a Feb. 17, 2024, post on X by Nick Smith, a reporter at Gongwer News Service — a Michigan-based outlet that focuses on the state's politics — who posted four photographs, including one of Trump supporters standing outside on snow-covered ground who held a banner that had the same slogan:

Because this trend was documented in coverage by reputable news outlets in addition to the reports by Dispatches from Trumpland, we have rated this claim as "True."

The Smell

It's unclear where this trend originated, but it appears the participants chose to embrace jokes and comments about Trump's smell and purported intestinal distress. Rumors about Trump's digestive problems, which allegedly necessitated diapers, have spread at least since he became president. For example, internet users speculated that he had a bowel movement during a 2019 meeting with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Later, on Dec. 16, 2023, then-U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, posted on X about the former president's odor, writing that it was "something to behold":

Kinzinger went on to describe it a bit more specifically for MeidasTouch, a progressive media network. "Take armpits, ketchup, a butt and makeup and put that all in a blender and bottle that as a cologne," he said. "That's kind of that. I've been amazed that everybody is just kind of learning about this now."

Several days later, on Dec. 22, 2023, filmmaker Morgan J. Freeman posted a photo of Trump with a comment that "Apparently #TrumpSmells because he rarely changes his adult diapers!":

Von Sh**zInPantz

This movement may have found new life with an April 22, 2024, X post by Michael Cohen, an attorney and former adviser to Trump who was a key player in the criminal trial against Trump over charges that he falsified business records in order to pay adult film actress Stormy Daniels hush money ahead of the 2016 election. Referencing long-standing rumors and alleged incidents, Cohen wrote:

Hey Von Sh**zInPantz…your attacks of me stink of desperation. We are all hoping that you take the stand in your defense.

The post came days after rumors emerged that the former president was passing gas in the courtroom.

Trump's attorney Todd Blanche read the post aloud in the courtroom to Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the trial, causing the court stenographer to commit Cohen's post to the record. Blanche was protesting the fact that while Trump was under a gag order, prosecution witnesses had no such limitations.

Sources:

Black, Michael Ian. 'Michael Ian Black: Trump Diapers Would Be a MAGA Phenomenon'. The Daily Beast, 24 Apr. 2024. www.thedailybeast.com, https://www.thedailybeast.com/michael-ian-black-trump-diapers-would-be-a-maga-phenomenon.

Trumpland, Dispatches From. 'More Trump Diapers At Pennsylvania Rally'. DispatchesTrumpland, 23 Apr. 2024, https://www.dispatchesfromtrumpland.com/post/more-trump-diapers-at-pennsylvania-rally.

Why Are Trump Supporters Wearing Diapers to His Rallies? | Indy100. https://www.indy100.com/politics/trump/trump-supporters-wearing-diapers. Accessed 3 May 2024.

Scannell, Maureen Chowdhury, Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle, Kara. 'Gag Order Hearing in Trump's Hush Money Case: What to Know | CNN Politics'. CNN, 2 May 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/02/politics/gag-order-hearing-trump/index.html.

'Diaper Don': Internet Celebrates 'Trump Smells' Trending on Social Media - Raw Story. https://www.rawstory.com/trump-smells-trends/. Accessed 3 May 2024.

'Something Stinks: Why #TrumpSmells Is Trending On X'. Yahoo Entertainment, 23 Dec. 2023, https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/something-stinks-why-trumpsmells-trending-010339466.html.

Trumpland, Dispatches From. 'Trump Supporters Embrace His Diaper Rumor'. DispatchesTrumpland, 10 Apr. 2024, https://www.dispatchesfromtrumpland.com/post/trump-supporters-embrace-his-diaper-rumor.

Updates:

May 9, 2024: The rating on this report was updated from "Research In Progress" to "True" based on additional information confirming the trend.

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