Footage showing President Joe Biden’s supposed verbal blunders has repeatedly circulated on social media, especially in conservative circles.
But many of these videos were deceptively edited or taken out of context. Such is the case with a July 14 Instagram post that suggests the president delivered the same speech twice.
“Two separate occasions, months apart, exact same speech,” read the words that appear across an Instagram post that spliced together two of Biden’s speeches.
The post, which was viewed more than 900,000 times, was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
Although the speeches highlighted in the Instagram post bear some similarities, they’re not identical and weren’t delivered months apart. Both were about the Biden administration’s efforts to improve the economy.
The speech on the right was given Dec. 1, 2021; the speech on the left was delivered on Dec. 3, 2021. And the Instagram post omitted much of their differences.
For example, Biden coughed and stammered Dec. 3, when he spoke of the latest developments in gas prices. He also noted that while China may release additional oil from its reserves, it hadn’t yet agreed to do so — something he didn’t mention Dec. 1.
Further, each speech focused on distinct tenets of the U.S. economy, and Biden shifted to different subjects after discussing prices at the pump. On Dec. 1, Biden hailed the American Rescue Plan for delivering “significant tax cuts for families raising kids,” while holding a news conference on the supply chain.
On Dec. 3, Biden told reporters he spoke with large retailers and grocery stores to ensure they’re “well-stocked” and able to meet consumer demand ahead of the year-end holiday season. His remarks were made during a news briefing on the November 2021 jobs report.
Our ruling
An Instagram post claimed Biden gave the “same exact speech” months apart.
That’s wrong. The two speeches included in the Instagram post were delivered only days apart. Although a portion of each speech bore similarities, Biden’s remarks were different and geared toward distinct tenets of the U.S. economy.
The post also omitted where the two speeches began to differ. For example, after Biden spoke of gas prices on Dec. 1, 2021, he immediately praised the American Rescue Plan. On Dec. 3, 2021, Biden spoke of consumer demand during the year-end holidays.
We rate this Instagram post False.
This article was originally published by PolitiFact, which is part of the Poynter Institute. It is republished here with permission. See the sources for this fact check here and more of their fact checks here.
