Did President Joe Biden describe African-American and Hispanic workers and veterans as "workers without high school diplomas"? No, that's not true: He was talking about unemployment rates for different groups of people. "Workers without high school diplomas" was one of the categories. The phase was not referring to African-American and Hispanic workers.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Instagram on September 14, 2023. It included a short clip of Biden speaking and a purported quote from the president that read:
BIDEN: "Particularly for African Americans and Hispanic workers and veterans ... you know, the workers without high school diplomas"
This is what the post looked like at the time of the writing of this fact check:
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken Fri Sept 15 9:05:29 UTC 2023)
The quote and clip are from a speech Biden gave at Prince George's Community College in Largo, Maryland, on September 14, 2023. The White House transcript of his remarks can be read here. The full video is here.
Biden's full quote contains an "and" not found in the clip on Instagram. The quote can be heard, as follows, at the 26:49 mark in the White House video:
We've seen record lows in unemployment, particularly -- and I've focused on this my whole career -- particularly for African Americans and Hispanic workers and veterans, you know, and [bold added by Lead Stories - ed] the workers without high-school diplomas. The lowest unemployment rate in 70 years for women now.
As is clear, both from the transcript and the clip, Biden was listing different groups of people. "Workers without high school diplomas" was its own category, as were veterans and African-American and Hispanic workers. The phrase "workers without high school diplomas" was not a reference back to those other groups. It was not a modifier; it was its own cohort.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks of claims about Joe Biden can be found here.
