AP fact-check demolishes conservative claim Biden tried to sit in a chair that wasn’t there

07 June 2024

When U.S. President Joe Biden, joined by French President Emmanuel Macron, spoke in Normandy, France on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, his supporters — including some pundits at MSNBC — hailed his speech as smart, presidential and focused.

Some right-wing media outlets, however, claimed that Biden was showing his age during the speech. And one of the claims was that the 81-year-old president was looking for a chair that wasn't there.

Mediaite called out Fox News' far-right Jeanine Pirro for promoting that false claim, giving her a comprehensive fact-check on June 6.

More fact-checking of the chair claim came from the Associated Press' Melissa Goldin.

In her AP article, Goldin notes the false claim: "A video shows President Joe Biden trying to sit in a chair that wasn't there during a ceremony in Normandy, France, commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day." And she goes on to thoroughly debunk it.

Goldin explains, "The video, in which Biden's chair is, for the most part, clearly visible, is cut before the president sits down. Full footage of the ceremony shows the president looking over his shoulder for his chair and pausing before taking a seat."

The AP reporter notes that some "social media users shared the short clip to further an ongoing narrative that Biden is infirm."

"In the video," Goldin notes, "Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands while standing between their wives, First Ladies Jill Biden and Brigitte Macron. The president then briefly looks over his left shoulder, bends over and hovers in that position as U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is announced as the event's next speaker…. But the video spreading online cuts off right before Biden takes a seat. In footage of the ceremony in its entirety, the president glances at his chair, bends over, pauses as Austin's introduction begins and then sits down at the same time as Macron, their wives and the people sitting behind them."

Goldin adds, "Biden's chair is visible throughout the video although it is obscured in some sections."

Read Melissa Goldin's full Associated Press article at this link.

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