A viral image shared on X claims President Joe Biden purportedly endorsed former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
IT’S OFFICIAL! BIDEN ENDORSES TRUMP! After wearing a MAGA hat today, the old man posed with kids in Pennsylvania sporting TRUMP SHIRTS! pic.twitter.com/oiIAeeMqsH
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 12, 2024
Verdict: False
Biden did not endorse Trump but wore a pro-Trump hat as a “gesture of unity” during an event remembering the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, according to Newsweek. At the same event, Biden posed with a group of children, some of whom wore pro-Trump T-shirts, the outlet reported.
Fact Check:
Biden said the “Secret Service needs more help” following reports of an alleged assassination attempt Sunday on Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence, according to Sky News. A Secret Service agent spotted the barrel of a gun “coming out of a perimeter fence” while Trump was golfing, the outlet reported.
The X image, viewed over 100,000 times as of writing, claims Biden purportedly endorsed Trump in the 2024 election. The viral image shows Biden posing for a photo with a group of children, some of whom are wearing pro-Trump T-shirts.
“IT’S OFFICIAL! BIDEN ENDORSES TRUMP! After wearing a MAGA hat today, the old man posed with kids in Pennsylvania sporting TRUMP SHIRTS!” the image’s caption reads.
The claim is false. While Biden did pose with the children for a photo and also wore a MAGA hat, the move was not an endorsement of Trump but a “gesture of unity” during a visit to a Shanksville, Pennsylvania fire station on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, according to Newsweek.
During the same visit, Biden gave a hat to a Trump supporter, who then suggested Biden should wear his pro-Trump hat, the outlet reported. Newsweek corroborated the claim using a statement from White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates.
“As a gesture, he gave a hat to a Trump supporter, who then suggested that, in the same spirit, POTUS should wear the Trump cap. He briefly put it on,” Bates said, according to the outlet.
A video shared on YouTube by the U.K.-based outlet The Times and The Sunday Times shows the interaction between Biden and the Trump supporter. In the video, Biden signs a hat bearing a logo with the presidential seal for the Trump supporter. “Here you go, man,” Biden says as he hands the Trump supporter the hat.
“I need that hat,” Biden soon adds, referring to the Trump supporter’s pro-Trump hat before taking it and putting it on. The same children Biden was photographed with in the viral X post can be seen in the background.
Likewise, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports suggesting Biden endorsed Trump in the 2024 election. In fact, the opposite is true. On Sept. 13, FactCheck.org debunked the claim suggesting Biden wearing the Trump hat signaled his endorsement of the 2024 Republican nominee and former president. (RELATED: Is Israel The Only Country Outside The U.S. That Has A 9/11 Memorial?)
Check Your Fact has contacted the White House for comment.