Did the U.S. military defy President Joe Biden by refusing to deploy? No, that's not true: A duty officer at the Pentagon told Lead Stories, "There is no truth to this claim." Also, this claim was made on a self-described satirical website whose disclaimer says it publishes articles for "entertainment purposes."
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on February 24, 2022, titled "Military Defies Biden Regime, Refuses to Deploy" (archived here). It opened:
The criminal Biden regime on 2 February announced it had deployed 2,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to Western Europe in response to Russian troops massing near the Ukrainian border.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Military Defies Biden Regime, Refuses to Deploy - Real Raw News
The criminal Biden regime on 2 February announced it had deployed 2,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to Western Europe in response to Russian troops massing near the Ukrainian border. It posted to social media photographs of what appeared to be a company of battle-ready soldiers standing at attention while awaiting orders to board [...]
Lead Stories reached out to the Pentagon to ask about the story's claim. In an email dated March 2, 2022, a duty officer responded:
I can confirm that there is no truth to this claim.
If there were a refusal of direct orders from the president by the U.S. military -- which there hasn't been -- it would be considered unlawful insubordination.
Also, nothing in this article corroborates the headline. It does not mention any military personnel refusing deployment. The bottom of the article features a fundraising link asking for donations.
Real Raw News has a long history of publishing false claims in mock news stories, many of them about convictions and executions of various public figures at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. For example, the site reported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hanged (she wasn't); former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta was executed (he wasn't); and that "the military" convicted former Attorney General William Barr on charges of treason (it didn't).
The website for Real Raw News includes a disclaimer that warns readers not to take its content too seriously. Specifically, it says:
Information on this website is for informational and educational and entertainment purposes. This website contains humor, parody, and satire. We have included this disclaimer for our protection, on the advice on legal counsel.
(Source: RealRawNews.com screenshot taken Tue Aug 3 16:39:48 UTC 2021)
Lead Stories has covered claims published by Real Raw News in the past. Previous Lead Stories debunks of Real Raw News items is collected here.
Other Lead Stories fact checks about the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict can be found here.
