Claim: Fox News added fake cheering to its coverage of Trump’s Army Day speech.
Rating: ❌ False
A viral video shared across TikTok, Threads, Facebook, and other platforms in June 2025 claimed that Fox News faked cheering audio to make Donald Trump’s entrance at an Army Day celebration seem more impressive. The speech, delivered in Washington, D.C., on June 14, honored the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary and coincided with Trump’s 79th birthday.
The video compared two versions of the event: a quieter PBS broadcast and a louder FOX 5 New York stream, alleging that Fox News doctored the sound. However, this claim lacks crucial context and is demonstrably false.
🔍 What Actually Happened
- Fox News did not add artificial cheering.
A Fox News spokesperson confirmed that the network used two official audio feeds:- A network pool feed with minimal crowd noise
- An America250 feed with more pronounced cheering
- PBS also used both feeds.
Ella Richardson, communications director for PBS NewsHour, clarified that PBS streamed both feeds: one with louder cheering and one without. Neither was altered in any way, other than adding the PBS logo. - Fox News cable network didn’t air the cheering version live.
According to the Internet Archive’s TV News Archive, the national Fox News channel aired the quieter pool feed — the same one seen on PBS. The America250 version (with louder crowd noise) was broadcast on local station FOX 5 New York, which is separate from the Fox News cable network. - Many outlets aired the cheering feed.
The louder version of Trump’s entrance was also featured on the YouTube channels of:- ABC News
- Reuters
- C-SPAN
- The Associated Press
- WUSA9
- FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth
- ABC News 4
- PBS NewsHour (in one of its two live feeds)
🎶 A Related Rumor — Also False
Another claim alleged that Fox News faked audio of the crowd singing “Happy Birthday” to Trump. But the same song was clearly heard on other networks, including PBS NewsHour, which aired it around the 8:30 mark in one of its official videos.
ℹ️ About the “America250” Feed
The America250 initiative is a nonpartisan commission created by Congress in 2016 to plan events for the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence, set for July 4, 2026. Both Democrats and Republicans sit on its leadership team. The audio feed with cheering originated from their production, not Fox News.
✅ Final Verdict
The rumor that Fox News added fake cheering to its Trump Army Day coverage is false. The louder crowd noise came from an official event feed used by multiple outlets. Accusations of media manipulation in this case are based on incomplete comparisons and misunderstandings of how broadcast feeds work.
Sources: America250. https://america250.org/.
“Army 250 Parade | FOX News | June 14, 2025 | 5:00pm-6:00pm PDT.” Internet Archive, TV News Archive, 14 June 2025, https://archive.org/details/FOXNEWSW_20250615_000000_Army_250_Parade/start/1220.3/end/1275.5.
“FULL SPEECH: President Donald Trump Speaks at 250th Anniversary Parade for US Army.” YouTube, ABC News 4, 15 June 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p99t09QdsTU.
“Live: DC Military Parade on Trump’s Birthday | Raw, Unanchored Coverage.” YouTube, FOX 5 New York, 14 June 2025, https://www.youtube.com/live/mkssSQwaA00.
“LIVE: Military Parade in DC and ‘No Kings’ Protests against Trump.” YouTube, Associated Press, 14 June 2025, https://www.youtube.com/live/aWBUbqYDbVA.
“LIVE: Trump Holds Military Parade on His Birthday for US Army’s 250th Anniversary | REUTERS.” YouTube, Reuters, 14 June 2025, https://www.youtube.com/live/tbciJiVJmVA?si=mktBQn7sk5pIC1zM&t=6646.
“LIVE: U.S. Army’s 250th Anniversary Grand Military Parade l ABC News Live.” YouTube, ABC News, 14 June 2025, https://www.youtube.com/live/39lIWGB64nI?si=GlKd7HJYLeYiTyMZ&t=8377.
“President Trump Remarks at U.S. Army 250th Anniversary Parade & Celebration.” C-SPAN, 14 June 2025, https://www.c-span.org/clip/public-affairs-event/president-trump-remarks-at-us-army-250th-anniversary-parade-celebration/5165579.
“Trump Military Parade LIVE: US Army’s 250th Birthday Celebration.” YouTube, FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth, 14 June 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM2k5iakF50.
“WATCH: Army 250th Anniversary– Full Parade Stream.” YouTube, WUSA9, 14 June 2025, https://www.youtube.com/live/SPR9aiGKB6o.
“WATCH LIVE: Trump Speaks at Military Parade on Army’s 250th Anniversary in Washington, D.C.” YouTube, PBS NewsHour, 14 June 2025, https://www.youtube.com/live/mNc1NEtfFyo.
“WATCH LIVE: Trump’s Military Parade Honoring Army’s 250th Birthday Rolls through Washington, D.C.” YouTube, PBS NewsHour, 14 June 2025, https://www.youtube.com/live/3-Unp5XoyXg.
