Current:Home > StocksFACT FOCUS: Online reports falsely claim Biden suffered a ‘medical emergency’ on Air Force One -Infinite Edge Learning
FACT FOCUS: Online reports falsely claim Biden suffered a ‘medical emergency’ on Air Force One
Rekubit View
Date:2025-04-10 20:12:16
False reports that President Joe Biden had a “medical emergency” while traveling back to Delaware on Friday after a campaign stop in Wisconsin, spread widely on social media on Friday. They were without merit.
Here’s a look at the facts.
___
CLAIM: President Joe Biden had a “medical emergency” aboard Air Force One on Friday.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. There were no signs of a medical emergency on the flight, according to an Associated Press reporter who was traveling with Biden. Air Force One arrived at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Delaware, at 7:22 p.m. The president exited the plane on his own, saluted and spoke with an officer at the base of the stairs and took a question from a reporter before leaving the airport.
THE FACTS: As Biden returned to his home in Wilmington, Delaware, after a campaign stop in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday social media users falsely claimed that the president had suffered a “medical emergency” aboard Air Force One.
Air Force One landed in New Castle, Delaware, at 7:22 p.m. about the same time posts started spreading about Biden’s alleged medical emergency.
“I just received a tip from an anonymous source,” reads one X post. “My source says that Joe Biden is currently experiencing a medical emergency on Air Force One as I type this. No further details are known.”
What to know about the 2024 Election
- Democracy: American democracy has overcome big stress tests since 2020. More challenges lie ahead in 2024.
- AP’s Role: The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information on election night, with a history of accuracy dating to 1848. Learn more.
- Read the latest: Follow AP’s complete coverage of this year’s election.
Another X post states: “Joe Biden is reportedly having a medical emergency on Air Force One right now. Press access has been removed.” It had received approximately 15,000 likes and 10,900 shares as of Saturday morning.
The posts presented no evidence that such an event occurred. Press access was not removed.
Video shows Biden walking down the steps of Air Force One in Delaware, speaking with an officer, answering a reporter’s question about whether he would watch a highly anticipated interview he did with ABC News’ George Stephanopolous and getting into a car, all without issue.
There were no signs of an emergency aboard Air Force One and the press was not denied access to the plane at any point, according to an AP reporter who was traveling on Air Force One with Biden during the flight from Wisconsin to Delaware. The reporter added that press was able to move about the plane as usual and that a door separating press from Biden’s top staff was open for most of the flight.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates called the claim “100% false” in an X post on Friday night.
Other posts claimed that the press did not see Biden when the presidential motorcade arrived at his home Friday night and that his campaign had canceled upcoming events as a result of the supposed emergency.
A press pool was in Biden’s motorcade when he was dropped off at his Wilmington home, according to the AP reporter who was traveling with the president. The reporter said journalists did not see him enter the house, but they routinely do not see him enter his Wilmington home because it is set back from the street and it is typical to only see the motorcade going through the gates leading to the house.
Biden had no public events planned for Saturday. He was scheduled to speak at a National Education Association convention on Sunday, but canceled after the union’s staff announced a strike on Friday.
“President Biden is a fierce supporter of unions and he won’t cross a picket line,” his campaign said in a statement. “The President is still planning to travel to Pennsylvania this weekend.”
___
Associated Press reporters Colleen Long and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.
___
Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.
veryGood! (4316)
Related
- 'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
- Liberia’s leader Weah is facing a tight runoff vote for a second term against challenger Boakai
- Tens of thousands of supporters of Israel rally in Washington, crying ‘never again’
- 'Low-down dirty shame': Officials exhume Mississippi man killed by police, family not allowed to see
- Trump issues order to ban transgender troops from serving openly in the military
- UK inflation falls sharply to 4.6%, lowest level in 2 years
- Repairs to arson damage on I-10 in Los Angeles will take weeks; Angelenos urged to 'work together' during commute disruption
- Murder trial in killing of rising pro cyclist Anna ‘Mo’ Wilson nears end. What has happened so far?
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Hi Hi!
- Some of the 40 workers trapped in India tunnel collapse are sick as debris and glitches delay rescue
Ranking
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- Ex-Philippine President Duterte summoned by prosecutor for allegedly threatening a lawmaker
- Ohio business owner sues Norfolk Southern for February derailment that closed his companies
- UNESCO is criticized after Cambodia evicts thousands around World Heritage site Angkor Wat
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- Biden announces 5 federal judicial nominees and stresses their varied professional backgrounds
- Young Kentucky team plays with poise but can't finish off upset of No. 1 Kansas
- Spain leader defends amnesty deal for Catalan in parliament ahead of vote to form new government
Recommendation
Travis Hunter, the 2
German publisher to stop selling Putin books by reporter who allegedly accepted money from Russians
GOP Rep. Tim Burchett says Kevin McCarthy elbowed him in the back after meeting
Key US spy tool will lapse at year’s end unless Congress and the White House can cut a deal
Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
Donna Kelce Reveals How Son Travis Kelce Blocks Out the Noise
Young Kentucky team plays with poise but can't finish off upset of No. 1 Kansas
How will a federal government shutdown affect me? Disruptions hit schools, air travel, more