Fact Check: Did France light Eiffel Tower blue to celebrate Democrats' midterm victory?
PARIS, FRANCE: After the blue tsunami in the midterm elections, an image is circulating on social media platforms that appears to show the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, lit in blue to celebrate the Democrats' midterm victory. While the image has been widely shared, many remained skeptical and called for a fact-check.
Claim: Eiffel Tower lit blue to celebrate midterm Democratic victory
The viral image shows the Eiffel Tower illuminated with blue lights, claiming that it was to celebrate the Democrats' victory in the 2026 midterm elections.
The image began circulating widely on social media after the elections, with one post claiming it signified that France stood "in solidarity with the new leadership in the House and Senate."
The image has gone viral on several platforms, garnering millions of views, with many believing the image and the claim behind the blue light are authentic, while a few others dismissed it as fake and called for a fact check.
Fact Check: The image includes signs of AI-generation
The claim, however, is false, as there is no evidence of France celebrating the US’s midterm Democratic victory by lighting the iconic monument blue, a color associated with the party.
An analysis of the image showed evidence of Artificial Intelligence, as it contained the presence of a SynthID, a digital watermark for AI-generated content.
A reverse image search for the image led to a Facebook post, which stated, “They gave us the Statue of Liberty, and now they lit up the Eiffel Tower in blue to celebrate with America."
However, the image shows the tower illuminated in blue with the 12 stars of the European Union, which was done in both 2008 and 2022 to celebrate France's leadership of the EU.
A Google search for the image revealed that the photos of the monument illuminated in blue to celebrate the country’s EU leadership are available on Getty Images.
Democrats seize Senate control after midterm victory
The image surfaced after the Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress in the midterms, flipping a number of the traditionally Republican Senate seats in states that President Donald Trump won in 2024.
The Democrats took the four seats they needed to take control of the Senate by flipping seats in South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Ohio, Kansas, and Iowa, which gives them significantly more leverage to oppose the president's agenda over the remaining two years of his term.
The results are seen as a major blow to Trump, who had been touring the country in the final weeks of the election, trying to help his party maintain its congressional majorities.
