Current:Home > InvestEchoSense:FACT FOCUS: Online reports falsely claim Biden suffered a ‘medical emergency’ on Air Force One -Wealth Evolution Experts
EchoSense:FACT FOCUS: Online reports falsely claim Biden suffered a ‘medical emergency’ on Air Force One
Charles Langston View
Date:2025-04-07 14:51:04
False reports that President Joe Biden had a “medical emergency” while traveling back to Delaware on EchoSenseFriday 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! (92)
Related
- $73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
- GM's electric vehicles will gain access to Tesla's charging network
- Elizabeth Gilbert halts release of a new book after outcry over its Russian setting
- Here’s When You Can Finally See Blake Lively’s New Movie It Ends With Us
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Facebook, Instagram to block news stories in California if bill passes
- This $41 Dress Is a Wardrobe Essential You Can Wear During Every Season of the Year
- Children as young as 12 work legally on farms, despite years of efforts to change law
- Nearly 400 USAID contract employees laid off in wake of Trump's 'stop work' order
- Save 45% On the Cult Favorite Philosophy 3-In-1 Shampoo, Shower Gel, and Bubble Bath
Ranking
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann Call Off Divorce 2 Months After Filing
- A Plan To Share the Pain of Water Scarcity Divides Farmers in This Rural Nevada Community
- Nueva página web muestra donde se propone contaminar en Houston
- Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
- Ex-Starbucks manager awarded $25.6 million in case tied to arrests of 2 Black men
- FTC sues Amazon for 'tricking and trapping' people in Prime subscriptions
- Elon's giant rocket
Recommendation
Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
Taking a breather: Fed holds interest rates steady in patient battle against inflation
John Mayer Cryptically Shared “Please Be Kind” Message Ahead of Taylor Swift Speak Now Release
The U.S. added 339,000 jobs in May. It's a stunningly strong number
Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
Proposed EU Nature Restoration Law Could be the First Big Step Toward Achieving COP15’s Ambitious Plan to Staunch Biodiversity Loss
Taking a breather: Fed holds interest rates steady in patient battle against inflation
Drifting Toward Disaster: the (Second) Rio Grande