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U.S. President Joe Biden gave a fiery State of the Union address on Thursday that laid out his case for re-election. He accused Donald Trump of threatening democracy, kowtowing to Russia and blocking a bill designed to tackle U.S. immigration woes.
Mr. Biden drew sharp contrasts with his Republican rival, whom he never addressed by name, and spoke directly to Americans about his vision for another four-year term.
Several false or misleading claims were circulating online after the speech, many of which distorted the truth by omitting crucial information or presenting facts out of context. Here are a few of them.
Security fencing around the Capitol is not new
Mr. Biden’s speech took place at the U.S. Capitol building. Beforehand, the Capitol Police erected a tall security fence around the site, part of a larger set of security measures that also included road closures. Such fencing has been used on several previous occasions since the Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump riot at the Capitol.
Screenshot of a post on X by Chad Pergram, Senior Congressional Correspondent for Fox News, about the previous use of security fencing.
A Fox News clip suggesting the fence was an unusual feature was shared on X (formerly Twitter) by accounts such as Citizen Free Press, which has over 300,000 followers. The Fox clip also suggests the fence was installed under the direction of Mr. Biden, and contrasts the tightly sealed perimeter around the Capitol with the U.S. southern border, where Mr. Trump and his allies have accused the Biden administration of not doing enough to prevent migrants from entering the country.
In fact, the Capitol fence would not have been installed at Mr. Biden’s direction. USA Today reported in 2021 that the Capitol Police answer to a police board with congressional oversight from several committees that have both Republican and Democrat members.
Two screengrabs from X of posts made by Citizen Free Press. The left sharing a video from Fox News claiming the Capitol security fence was ordered by President Biden, the right reposting a video by Wisconsin representative Tom Tiffany at the fence.
The Globe and Mail is not linking directly to this or other false or misleading claims, so that they are not amplified.
State of the Union from 2023, not 2024 had cartoon filters applied
In one of the more unusual responses to the State of the Union, Mr. Trump posted a video to his official Truth Social account that applied cartoonish filters, apparently from Snapchat, to Mr. Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris.
The source video is not from 2024. It is from Mr. Biden’s 2023 State of the Union. This is especially apparent from Ms. Harris’s outfit: the maroon suit she is wearing in the video matches what she wore last year.
Photo from President Biden's 2023 State of the Union showing the maroon outfit worn by Vice President Harris.Jacquelyn Martin
Screenshots of a video posted to Truth Social by Donald Trump of cartoonish filters added to a clip from the 2023 State of the Union indicated by the maroon outfit Ms. Harris is wearing.
The video is careful not to show former speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, seated to Ms. Harris’ left. Mr. McCarthy was speaker from January to October, 2023, when he was replaced by current Speaker Mike Johnson.
Photo of Biden is from 2021, not 2024
Thursday’s State of the Union event yielded many photos of Mr. Biden looking stern or angry, or making other expressions.
Combination of images showing different expressions by President Biden delivering the State of the Union on March 7.The Associated Press
But a 2021 photo of the President has been widely shared online and falsely linked to the speech, as a way of suggesting that Mr. Biden’s tone was angry and aggressive. An online search for the source of the image reveals that the original photo is from Nov. 6, 2021, at the White House.
Image of President Biden shared on X by James Woods suggesting it is from the 2024 State of the Union when it is from 2021.
Screengrab from wire service AFP showing an image being shared on X is a tight crop of this one from November 2021.
Photojournalists capture many images during appearances by leaders and at news events. The same AFP photographer who took the 2021 photo also took pictures of Mr. Biden smiling and gesturing. Ultimately, each publication selects images to suit the tone of its stories.
A publication or social media user can easily influence how a story is perceived by using images. A ranting Mr. Biden suits the narrative shared by some right-leaning users of X, including actor James Woods, who called Mr. Biden an “angry foul creature” in one post.
Screenshot from wire service AFP showing the range of images shot of President Biden by the same photojournalist at a November 6, 2021 event.
These examples demonstrate the way true information – the fact of a fence’s existence, a photo of an expression that once crossed the President’s face – can have its context changed or stripped out entirely, distorting what happened.
For anyone following the news online, especially politics, skepticism is often the best defence.