STORY UPDATED: check for updates below.
Did Joe Biden let slip that there is a "right roof" with a certain color that will protect a home from being destroyed by lasers or directed energy weapons during wildfires as some conspiracists suggest? No, that's not true: In a video clip of Joe Biden speaking in Brownsville, Texas, he does say how in the aftermath of a wildfire it can be observed that sometimes a home with the "right roof" will be left standing when other nearby homes were burned to the ground. In the moments leading up to that he was speaking about ensuring that in the rebuilding process, homes are built to up-to-date standards and building codes. Wildfire experts caution that a roof can be the most vulnerable point for ignition to occur and recommend using specific roofing materials for fire-resistance.
A video clip was posted on Instagram (archived here) where it was published by @thesecretswithincp2.0 on March 3, 2024. The post was captioned, "Wow," and text added to the video says:
Biden just admitted roof color was a factor in 🔥🔥🔥
(Image source: Instagram screenshot taken on Mon Mar 04 20:36:52 2024 UTC)
Biden never mentions roofing color or "admits" anything in this 14-second video clip, or the longer original livestream.
In a March 2, 2024 email to Lead Stories, White House press office staffer Jeremy Edwards pointed out sections of the President's remarks that make it clear he is talking about roofing materials:
The President was referring to building codes. Here's a link to his full remarks and the relevant section.
This shortened video clip of Biden that was posted on Instagram was originally part of a 23:18-minute-long livestream from the White House YouTube channel titled, "02/29/24: President Biden Delivers Remarks." Biden was in Brownsville, Texas, to meet with local leaders and officials from several agencies to discuss the Senate bipartisan border security agreement. (White House news release here) In opening remarks, before talking about the border, Biden took several minutes to discuss the Texas wildfires, which as of early March 2024 were the largest in the state's history, having burned over a million acres of land.
At the 01:46 minute mark in the YouTube video Biden says:
My administration's going to keep building on the progress we've made fighting climate crisis and we're going to keep helping folks rebuild themselves in the wake of these disasters and we rebuild to the standards that are the up the up to-date standards and building codes and the rest because a lot of if you fly over these areas that are burned to the ground you'll see in the midst of twenty homes that are just totally destroyed, one home sitting there because they had the right roof on it.
And anyway since I took office FEMA has provided Texas alone over thirteen billion dollars. Thirteen billion dollars in three years in disaster relief after fires and winter storms across the state.
The remarks quoted above about helping people rebuild, rebuilding to up-to-date standards and building codes, have been omitted from the Instagram clip. In the 14 seconds that are shown, Biden seems to suggest that there is one "right roof" that will keep a home from being burned. He did say this, but with additional context regarding building standards.
This Instagram post revives one of several conspiracies which circulated after the August 8, 2023, fire destroyed the town of Lahaina, on the island of Maui, Hawaii. Biden's description of things he saw from a helicopter over Texas are reminiscent of scenes of the devastation in Maui -- where drone footage showed neighborhoods reduced to smoldering debris where one home might appear to be mysteriously unscathed. Several of the items that appeared in footage of the Lahaina aftermath happened to be blue, and the baseless conspiracy developed, suggesting that directed energy weapons (DEW) had been tuned to spare certain blue objects but to ignite everything else. (Lead Stories fact check here)
In his remarks in Brownsville, Biden was not suggesting that elites with the "right roof" on their home would be shielded from an attack of space lasers; he was referring to commonly known fire-prevention measures for homes in wildfire-prone areas. A website by CAL FIRE, readyforwildfire.org, describes a process called "Home Hardening." Of the 14 places CAL FIRE describes where homes can be better protected from the dangers of a wildfire, the roof is first on the list:
The roof is the most vulnerable part of your home. Homes with wood or shingle roofs are at high risk of being destroyed during a wildfire.
- Build your roof or re-roof with materials such as composition, metal, clay or tile. Block any spaces between roof decking and covering to prevent embers from catching.
- Remove accumulated vegetative debris from the roof.
Texas A&M Forest Service also has a dedicated page on home hardening which has six sections. "Roof and Gutters" tops the list there as well:
Roof and Gutters
- Use fire-resistant roofing material such as metal, tile or Class A shingles.
- Inspect for gaps in roofing that can expose roof decking or supports.
- Install metal gutters and gutter guards to keep debris from accumulating.
- Place angle flashing over openings between the roof decking and fascia board.
For more information, check out this NFPA Fact Sheet on Roofing Materials
Lead Stories has additional fact check articles on claims about the Maui fires (here) and other wildfires (here).
Updates:
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2024-03-05T00:10:11Z 2024-03-05T00:10:11Z Updated to add response from White House press office staff.
