A State of the Union intermission? False claim circulates ahead of address | Fact check
EXCERPT
A March 7 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) claims an adjustment was made to the schedule for President Joe Bidenās March 7 State of the Union address.
āWhite House announces there will be 2 āintermissionsā during tonightās State of the Union,ā reads the post, which is a screenshot of a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, from former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
The Instagram post's caption reads, "So the docs said he doesnāt need a cognitive exam and heās not too oldā¦ but they will need to break this state of the union up."
The Instagram post received more than 1,500 likes in a few hours. Other versions of the claim spread on Facebook and X.
Our rating: False
The White House has made no such announcement, and Spicer said the post was a joke.
Claim is a joke based on concerns over Biden's stamina The State of the Union is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. ET on March 7. But there are no White House news releases or reports from legitimate news outlets about intermissions during the speech.
Spicer, once the spokesperson for former President Donald Trump, said the claim was a joke in a subsequent X post. However, the Instagram post and other iterations of the claim make no mention of it being a joke and appear to take it seriously. Comments show many social media users taking it seriously as well.
