FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show Joe Biden Asleep In The Oval Office?
An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows President Joe Biden asleep while in the Oval Office.
Verdict: False
The image has been digitally altered. The image of Biden closing his eyes has been superimposed onto an image of Biden in the Oval Office.
Fact Check:
The image shows Biden wearing a suit and a blue tie while sitting in what appears to be the Oval Office. In the photo, Biden’s head is down, and he seems to be asleep. (RELATED: Does This Video Show Joe Biden Sleeping During A Local Television Interview?)
“AMERICA IN DECLINE,” text in the image reads. “This decrepit old grifter works MAYBE five hours a day. We traded in a work horse, for someone that belonged out to pasture or sent to the glue factory a long time ago. Nothing says we threw in the towel better than this nauseating image, the ‘commander in chief’ can’t even stay awake.”
There is a stack of several folders visible on the desk in the image being shared on Facebook, suggesting it comes from Jan. 20, the day Biden was inaugurated. However, Check Your Fact didn’t find any media reports of Biden falling asleep in the Oval Office while signing executive actions that day.
Instead, it seems that an older picture of Biden closing his eyes was superimposed onto a recent photo of the president in the Oval Office on Jan. 20. The image of Biden’s eyes being closed appears to come from 2011, when the then-vice president was filmed with his eyes briefly shut while then-President Barack Obama was giving a speech about the national debt, according to footage from ABC News.
Video and photos from Jan. 20 show Biden awake and signing executive orders while wearing the same suit and blue tie as pictured in the Facebook image, as well as a face mask. Check Your Fact found no photos from Inauguration Day showing Biden asleep in the Oval Office.
This is not the first time social media users shared content claiming to show Biden falling asleep. Check Your Fact previously debunked a doctored video in August 2020 falsely claiming to show Biden asleep during an interview.
