FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show Biden Talking To No One?
A post shared on social media purportedly shows a video of President Joe Biden gesturing to people that are not there.
😊 After shaking hands with invisible people several times, US President Joe Biden started hugging them pic.twitter.com/pGGRxLzKLV
— S p r i n t e r (@Sprinter99800) December 21, 2023
Verdict: False
The claim is inaccurate. The video is missing visual context.
Fact Check:
13 pro-Palestine demonstrators were arrested Monday night at Love Field in Dallas before a scheduled appearance from Biden, The Dallas Morning News reported. Biden was heading to an event to honor former Dallas Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson who died Dec. 31.
A post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, purports President Joe Biden gestured to non-existent people after a speech. The video allegedly shows Biden finishing a speech in Milwaukee then suddenly turning around and gesturing to no one.
The caption reads, “After shaking hands with invisible people several times, US President Joe Biden started hugging them.”
The claim is inaccurate. The video in the post only shows an angle of the stage that does not show the people standing behind him. A C-Span video with a different angle shows that he was talking to audience members on the left and right of the stage behind him.
Biden visited Wisconsin and addressed the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce on 20 December, 2023, according to Local news Fox 6. Biden touted small business growth and new infrastructure laws enacted during his administration. (Did Times Square Billboards Call Ceasefire Anti-Semitic?)
This is not the first time a post claimed Biden was addressing an invisible figure. Check Your Fact debunked a claim he did the same in Ireland.