FACT CHECK: Was Joe Biden’s March 11 Coronavirus Speech Pre-Recorded?

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

A post shared on Facebook claims President Joe Biden’s March 11 speech on the anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic was pre-recorded.

Verdict: False

There is no evidence that Biden’s speech was pre-recorded. Media reporting shows that it was aired live.

Fact Check: 

On the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic, Biden delivered a prime-time address in which he said he’s aiming for the country to regain a sense of normalcy by July 4, 2021, according to NPR. Since the speech was aired, some Facebook users have been sharing a claim stating the speech was pre-recorded.

“Biden’s first prime-time speech and it’s pre-recorded. What a joke. Wonder how many weeks they worked on this fiasco?” reads one post. (RELATED: Viral Image Claims To Show ‘Actual Quote’ From Joe Biden)

There is, however, no evidence that Biden’s speech was pre-recorded. Check Your Fact conducted an internet search on DuckDuckGo and Google, but found no media outlets confirming that the speech was pre-recorded. In fact, several media outlets reported Biden’s speech as it happened.

CBS News and NBC News, for instance, both aired the speech live as it happened on Thursday evening. Fox News broadcasted “Tucker Carlson Tonight” host and Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson’s real-time reactions at some points during the speech, according to Business Insider.

Additionally, the Associated Press and Reuters published pictures that were taken during the speech. The caption for one such photo from the Associated Press reads, “President Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 pandemic during a prime-time address from the East Room of the White House, Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Washington.”

White House correspondents for different news organizations live-tweeted during Biden’s March 11 speech, including some photos of Biden delivering the address. For instance, David Sherfinski, a politics reporter for The Washington Times, tweeted out an image of Biden on March 11 at 8:12 p.m. as the president was giving his speech.

Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason tweeted a picture of Biden standing behind the podium at 8:06 p.m. as well.

“It did not appear that any senior staff were in the room as President Biden addressed the nation tonight,” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins tweeted March 11. “But I did see @FLOTUS in the back, watching closely as he spoke.”

A Biden administration official confirmed to Check Your Fact that the speech was not pre-recorded.

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
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