In a segment that has since gone viral and been widely fact-checked, former President Donald Trump shared a peculiar anecdote with Fox News host Pete Hegseth, claiming he shared a meal with a construction worker amidst the chaos of the January 6th Capitol protests.
The conversation, which aired on Fox's 'Sunday Morning Futures', took a bizarre turn as Trump described an encounter with a man he referred to only as 'sandwich guy'. The former president insisted that the man, a 'great guy' holding a 'big sandwich', was a supportive construction worker present at the event.
The story quickly unravelled under scrutiny. Major news outlets and fact-checkers have found no evidence to support Trump's claim. No photographs or video footage from the extensive media coverage of that day show the former president interacting with any such individual, let alone sharing a meal.
Political analysts suggest the story is a clear attempt to reframe the narrative surrounding the January 6th events. By inventing a folksy, innocuous moment, Trump seems to be trying to distance himself from the well-documented violence and insurrectionist intent of the crowd he summoned.
Social media reaction was swift and satirical, with the term '#SandwichGuy' trending as users mocked the outlandish claim. The incident is seen by critics as another example of Trump's propensity for spreading misinformation and crafting self-aggrandising, fictional tales for his base.
