FACT CHECK: Did Joe Biden Wear A Wire During The First Presidential Debate?
An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden wearing a wire during the first presidential debate on Tuesday.
Verdict: False
There is no evidence that Biden was “wired up.” The images of the alleged wire appear to show a crease in Biden’s shirt and a rosary he often wears on his wrist.
Fact Check:
Biden and President Donald Trump faced off onstage Tuesday for the first of three planned presidential debates. Over 500 Facebook users shared a collage of images from the debate that they claim show Biden wearing a wire that can allegedly be seen in his sleeve and running up his shirt.
There is, however, no evidence the former vice president wore a wire for the debate. Check Your Fact reviewed a higher resolution video of the debate and found that the supposed wire circled in the upper-right photo appears to actually be a crease in his shirt. The bottom-right image seems to show a set of rosary beads that Biden is known to wear.
Biden said during a 2017 interview with Megyn Kelly that the rosary beads belonged to his deceased son Beau and that he wears them on his wrist every day. In the 2017 interview, Biden wore the rosary on his left wrist, the same wrist that social media users circled in the bottom-right photo.
“I have not taken off the rosary Beau was wearing when he passed, since then,” Biden said during the interview. “It is my connection with him.” (RELATED: 6 Claims From The First Presidential Debate)
The claim that Biden wore a wire during the debate may have come from unfounded rumors that circulated prior to the event, after the Trump campaign claimed Biden had declined to “undergo inspection for electronic ear pieces before the debate,” according to NBC News. Biden’s campaign confirmed to The Washington Post’s Matt Viser that Biden would not be wearing an earpiece and denied that the campaign asked for breaks during the debate.
“Of course he’s not wearing an earpiece and we never asked for breaks,” Viser quoted Kate Bedingfield, the deputy campaign manager and communications director for Biden, as saying.
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