Ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, TikTok users shared a rumor claiming a video showed former President Donald Trump dancing on an episode of "Soul Train," the musical variety TV show that aired from 1971 to 2006.
For example, one TikTok post sharing the clip on July 12, 2024, received more than 1.4 million views. The video's onscreen caption read, "Donald Trump when he danced on 'Soul Train.'"
The same video with the mention of Trump's name also appeared in the past on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. The music the man was dancing to varied from video to video, as the the social media users altered the soundtrack.
The 45th president has been known to dance following some of his rallies, and to have busted a move with noteworthy figures in decades past, too.
However, no, that's not Trump dancing on "Soul Train."
While we realize some users probably knew that the video didn't show Trump and that they were simply sharing it as a humorous joke, we received several emails from readers who wanted to find the source of the footage.
On Sept. 11, 2017, a user on the platform then known as Twitter posted the same video, except with the original audio and a clearer picture. The user did not mention Trump's name.
The song in the original video was "Why Should I Cry" by Nona Hendryx. The moment from the video appeared on "Soul Train" on May 2, 1987. According to Fandom.com, the episode was No. 25 during the show's 16th season.
A search of the Getty Images website for pictures of Trump between 1985 and 1989 showed he never had hair as long as the man with the mullet, nor was he quite so thin at the time.
In our research, we located on YouTube the full segment from the "Soul Train" episode. The unidentified man with the mullet shows up at the 2:04 mark: