FACT CHECK: Post Claims Joe Biden Admitted To Selling State Secrets
A post shared on Facebook claims President Joe Biden admitted to selling state secrets.
Verdict: Misleading
Biden was making a joke.
Fact Check:
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a state visit to the U.S., according to CNN. Modi’s state visit marks only the third state visit from a head of state in Biden’s presidency, the outlet reported.
The Facebook video claims Biden admitted to selling state secrets. The Facebook post reads, “Biden literally just admitted ON CAMERA that he sold state secrets…LOCK. HIM. UP.”
This claim, however, lacks important context. Biden made the comments during a roundtable discussion about technology and innovation, according to the official White House transcript. The transcript shows that people laughed and that Biden said he was joking.
“Okay. We — I was just thanking the — anyway, I started off without you, and I sold a lot of state secrets and a lot of very important things that we shared. (Laughter.) Now, all kidding aside — look, we’re teaming up to design and develop new technologies that are going to transform the lives of our people around the world,” Biden said. (Bold emphasis added by Check Your Fact.)
The White House also posted the video of the roundtable on YouTube. The video shows that Biden was joking, and there was laughter in response to the joke. (RELATED: Has Joe Biden Visited The Border More Than Once?)
Misinformation around Biden is not new. Check Your Fact recently debunked an image claiming to show Biden in a bubble wrap costume that protects him from falls.