A rumor that users circulated online in April 2025 claimed a video showed a Black female doctor denying care to a man because of his MAGA hat — a cap representing U.S. President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.
For example, on April 13, X user Project Constitution (@ProjectConstitu) posted a video (archived), captioning it as, "UNHINGED FEMALE DOCTOR GOES VIRAL! Denying Healthcare Over A MAGA Hat? Share Your Thoughts!"
(@ProjectConstitu/X)
Numerous users appeared to believe the video showed a genuine moment. For example, one X user posted (archived), "This doctor should lose her license." Another user similarly submitted (archived), "She needs to have her medical license revoked."
However, the video did not depict a genuine interaction between a doctor and a patient. The clip featured actors who performed the doctor's office scenario for a skit. Someone used basic video-editing tools to horizontally mirror the original video, possibly in order to avoid various types of detection, including by reverse-image search tools.
In a private message on X, the Project Constitution (@ProjectConstitu) user said they didn't know when they reposted the video that actors staged the scene. They also pointed out that they later replied (archived) to note the truth.
Fact checkers at Lead Stories previously concluded much the same in February about a popular TikTok post featuring the clip. An X user who reposted, then later deleted, that TikTok user's video — including displaying the TikTok user's watermark — received several replies pointing out the reality behind the clip. One X user identified (archived) the white male actor wearing the MAGA hat as Thomas Gibson, whose TikTok account (@thomasgibson31) featured the same video, an alternate angle and many other skits.
Gibson did not return a request for comment, including asking for information about the production company or the people creating the skit videos.
Another user featured (archived) four photos, supposedly of the woman who portrayed the doctor, acting in other skits.
(@Brick_Suit/X)
For further reading, a previous fact-check article examined a video in which the same Black female actor participated in a skit depicting her entering a classroom and tearing down a teacher's Progress Pride Flag.