Does a video circulating on social media show thousands of people and trucks from all over the U.S. heading to Texas to defend the state against the Biden administration? No, this is not true: The video depicts a truck convoy that journeyed from California to Washington, D.C., in February 2023 to protest COVID-19-related restrictions. While there's a dispute between Texas and the federal government over border control, there's no evidence that people and trucks from around the country are heading to Texas.
The claim appeared in a video on TikTok on January 27, 2024, with the caption (translated from Bulgarian to English by Lead Stories staff):
People from all over America are heading to Texas to defend the state against the criminal Biden administration. "Take Our Border Back" will head to Eagle Pass, Texas, Yuma, Arizona and San Ysidro, California,' said Republican Congressman Keith Self.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Jan 31 20:32:57 2024 UTC)
There is a dispute (archived here) between Texas and the federal government over the state's claim that it has a right to impose control over its border with Mexico. A group of Republican governors have signed a statement (archived here) backing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in his fight with the federal government over border control. However, the claim that thousands of people and trucks are going to Texas to defend the state is unfounded.
The video used in this post and other Bulgarian social media sites has been inaccurately portrayed. It shows footage from a February 2023 convoy of truckers (archived here) who drove from California to Washington, D.C., to advocate for ending COVID-19 restrictions.
At least one convoy that is part of the Take Our Border Back Convoy (archived here) left Jacksonville, Florida, en route to Texas and was followed on a participant's livestream (archived here). That revealed that about 40 vehicles were involved.
Social media posts (archived here, here and here) in Bulgaria are broadly disseminating the same misrepresented video, set to a 1982 song by Survivor called "Eye of the Tiger," which shows aerial footage of a truck convoy in motion, cheered on by American flag-waving supporters. The text, video and music across the social media posts in Bulgaria are nearly identical.
Here is another example from a post (archived here) on Facebook on January 27, 2024, with the caption (as translated):
The participation of 700,000 trucks from all over the country has been requested. People from all over America are heading to Texas to defend the state against the criminal Biden administration. 'Take Our Border Back' will head to Eagle Pass, Texas, Yuma, Arizona and San Ysidro, California, said Republican Congressman Keith Self.
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Wed Jan 31 20:57:00 2024 UTC)
