Photo: Wikimedia Commons, The White House
This article was first published by Raskrinkavanje.ba (Bosnia and Hercegovina), within the framework of Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Project.
The website Nulta tacka published an article falsely claiming that Joe Biden “admitted” that his associates are holding him hostage until the elections are over.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, The White House
The website Nulta tacka published an article on September 24, 2024, claiming that U.S. President Joe Biden “admitted” that the staff is holding him hostage until the presidential elections in the U.S. are over.
Biden says that the staff is holding him hostage until the elections are over.
President Biden admitted that his associates are holding him hostage until the elections are over and until he leaves the White House.
The article states that Biden “admitted” this during a reception at the White House organized for the women’s football team Gotham F.C. which is the 2023 champion of the National Women’s Soccer League. Parts of his speech at the reception were shared, and regarding the statement referenced by Nulta tacka in the headline and introduction, the article says the following:
Biden then let a woman from the football team speak for a bit, returning to the podium to say that he thought he would be able to do things he wanted as president but learned that his staff prevented him from fulfilling his wishes.
“You know, I thought that when I became president, I would be able to do the things I want to do, but my staff tells me what I can’t do, but I’m going to do it anyway”, Biden said.
This post was also shared on Telegram.
Nulta tacka cited Infowars as the source, which had published a similar article a day earlier. The reception mentioned in the article took place on September 23, 2024. The transcript of Biden’s speech at the reception was published on the White House website. From the transcript, it is evident that the U.S. President spoke first, then former club captain Ali Krieger spoke, and afterward, Biden invited the attendees to join him on stage.
PRESIDENT: You know, I thought that when I became president, I’d be able to do the things I want, but my staff tells me what I can’t do. (Laughter.) But I’m going to do it anyway. All the young women – the young kids in the audience back there, come on up and […] stand behind me as we do this. Let’s go.
A recording of the event (archived) was also posted online, and media outlets reported on it.
U.S. President Joe Biden is often the target of disinformation aimed at portraying him as incapable of fulfilling his duties as president.
Raskrinkavanje has written several times about such manipulations (1, 2, 3, 4). His withdrawal from the election race for a new term was accompanied by disinformation that he had died or been murdered, which we also wrote about, as well as other conspiracy theories.
Therefore, the claim that Biden admitted that the staff is holding him hostage until the elections are over and until he leaves the White House, published on the website Nulta tacka, is rated as fake news and conspiracy theory. Other posts sharing this claim are rated as a distribution of fake news and a conspiracy theory.
(Author: Marija Manojlović, Raskrinkavanje.ba)
