Joe Biden

Did President Joe Biden grow mysteriously taller after spending time away from the public eye recovering from COVID-19? No, that's not true: The video footage used by people claiming this on social media shows Biden from a lower level, which gives an illusion of greater height relative to the people and architecture behind him. Different camera angles of the same…

Did the wristwatch President Joe Biden was wearing show a time other than the current local time during a live address on July 24, 2024, indicating the speech was prerecorded or edited? No, that's not true: Biden's watch was visible showing the correct local time at various moments during the address, filmed and photographed by several cameras. The time of…

Did GovTrack delete only Vice President Kamala Harris' 2019 report card, which rated her as the most liberal senator that year? No, that's not true: GovTrack told Lead Stories that it consolidated and deleted everyone's 2019 report card. Her 2020 report card, which covers two years, rated Harris as the second most liberal member of the Senate. Founder Joshua Tauberer…

Did former President Donald Trump state that he won't debate Vice President Kamala Harris in a presidential candidate debate? No, that's not true: Trump said the opposite, that he wants to debate Harris. Harris is the presumptive 2024 Democratic nominee for president. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Threads on July 23, 2024. The post's caption read:…

Do memorandums by President Joe Biden prove he is transferring his presidential power to others in advance of his death? No, that's not true: The delegation of powers to lower-level officials is a common practice in the federal government. There are dozens of examples during the Biden, Trump and Obama administrations where each president delegated limited "functions and authorities" to…

Does an image of President Joe Biden with solid black eyeballs wearing a black protective face mask support a rumor that he died? No, that's not true: The image is fake, with several flaws typical of AI-generated images, and Biden is alive as of this writing on July 23, 2024. A browser extension from Hive Moderation determined the image was…

Was President Joe Biden in hospice care as of July 23, 2024? No, that's not true: He was diagnosed with COVID-19, on July 17, 2024, then tested negative for COVID and was seen in public on July 23, 2024, returning to the White House. The social media account that first made the claim is not a reputable news organization and…

Did the U.S. Capitol lower its flag to half-staff during the week of July 22, 2024, because President Joe Biden had died? No, that's not true: The flag was lowered on July 22, 2024, to honor Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who died July 19, 2024, a representative for House Speaker Mike Johnson told Lead Stories. Beyond notification that Biden had…

When he dropped out of the race on July 21, 2024, was it too late for Joe Biden's name to be removed from general election presidential ballots across the country? No, that's not true: Biden was not yet on the ballot for this election cycle, as his primary election wins only made him the presumptive nominee. The party's official candidate…

Did Joe Biden's letter withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race require the presidential seal? No, that's not true: The letter was written by Biden in his capacity as then-candidate -- not by Biden as president. The seal is only used for official presidential correspondence. The claim was implied in a post (archived here) on X, the site formerly known as…