A meme circulating on social media contains nine ‘questions to ask someone who thinks Biden is the president’. This image contains six false allegations and three allegations that are missing the context and are no proof that Biden’s presidency is invalid.
Posts with the image can be seen on Instagram (here, here) and Facebook (here, here).
Reuters had earlier made similar allegations about the legitimacy of Biden’s presidency stemming from the QAnon conspiracy theory here.
MILITARY LEVEL
The meme asks, “Why was Biden denied that a military plane would take him to DC?”
Before the inauguration on January 20, 2021, Biden will fly a private jet (here) to Washington DC.
A CNN report states here “the government did not offer the Bidens a plane”; the report did not provide further details on the case.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
This is not proof that he (Biden is not president) and his choice of travel does not mean that Biden is not president now (a fact check on this claim by PolitiFact is visible here).
TAKE FOR THE HEAD
The meme asks, “Why was the typical song for the arrival of POTUS not played for Biden during his inauguration?”
This music was played on the inauguration day.
“Hail to the Chief”, the music that used the arrival of the president (as explained here by the US Marine Orchestra) can be heard immediately after Biden took the oath during his inauguration ceremony youtu.be/ZwvbQR887W0?t=17295 and during the Bidens’ arrival at the White House youtu.be/shHh4KAcb_E?t=63 on 20 January.
21-GUN SALUTE
The meme says: “Why was Biden not delivered a salute of 21 weapons as a use (sic) for an incoming president? Do you know, as Trump received the same day, January 20? “It’s fake.
While this military tradition (here) did not take place immediately after Biden’s oath (youtu.be/ZwvbQR887W0?t=17322), as in previous inaugurations (youtu.be/prd2RfhF1tM?t=8407, youtu.be/0UEbEvObgKo? T = 2497), he received the 21-gun salute later in the day at Arlington National Cemetery (here, youtu.be/-jtdQGYLD0k?t=280) during a wreath-laying ceremony at the grave of the unknown soldier (here).
As reported by the New York Times (here), prior to Trump’s last remarks on January 20 at Joint Base Andrews, he also received a salute from 21 guns and a military band played ‘Hail to the Chief’.
CURRENT in SPAIN
The meme asks, “Why was Biden’s inauguration broadcast live in Spain ten hours before the appointed time?”
Reuters found no evidence to support the claim that the US presidential inauguration had been streamed in Spain ahead of time.
The Spanish fact-checker Maldita.es made a similar allegation here, reporting that none of the major Spanish channels broadcast Biden’s inauguration before it was broadcast live in the United States.
Reuters had earlier dismissed other allegations that the inauguration had been ‘pre-recorded’ or ‘staged’ here and there.
HAND ON BIBLE
The meme also asks, “Why did Biden take his hand out of the false Bible before taking his oath?”
This is demonstrably false, as visible in the footage of the inauguration (youtu.be/ZwvbQR887W0?t=17294, youtu.be/q5iCPKDp4V4?t=496, youtu.be/oxmk9I3ZIf4?t=52). Biden’s hand continues to be placed on his family Bible until after his last words in the oath reading.
Additional reading about Biden’s family bible, which he swore earlier, can be seen here.
INSPIRATION TO VICE PRESIDENT
The meme asks, “Why was Biden sworn in after Kamala, which is not constitutional?”
Vice President Kamala Harris was sworn in for President Biden (youtu.be/q5iCPKDp4V4?t=51, youtu.be/q5iCPKDp4V4?t=474).
Footage from previous inaugurations shows that this order is part of the usual protocol (see Trump’s inauguration: youtu.be/prd2RfhF1tM?t=7974, here and Obama’s inauguration youtu.be/0UEbEvObgKo?t=2177, youtu.be/0UEbEvObg ? t = 2418).
The constitution does not specify the order of the inauguration ceremonies and does not contain any details about the procedure. As the Joint Congressional Committee of Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) says here, the constitution only stipulates that Congress determines “when the president takes the oath of office” and specifies “the oath of office” for the future president.
NATIONAL WATCH TURNED THEM BACK
The meme asks, ‘Why did the military turn their backs on Biden when he drove past them, rather than face and salute, which is an absolute requirement for service members?’
As previously reviewed by Reuters, this assertion is untrue: positioning, with some soldiers looking away from the road, is a standard protocol to protect against potential threats. The same was visible during Trump’s highway in 2017.
CORE CODE
The meme also asks, ‘Why does not Biden seem to have the military launch codes near him? You know, like the photos near Trump in Florida? ‘
This is false: Biden has had the launch codes for nuclear power since the afternoon of January 20, when it was handed over to him and removed from Donald Trump.
Reuters did not find any footage of the so-called “nuclear football” (here) in Florida, after Trump left the White House, as the meme claims. However, it is true that Trump took the codes with him, but it only remained in his presence until Biden was sworn in around noon.
Since Trump did not attend Biden’s inauguration, the handover of the ‘nuclear football’ happened differently and there were two sets of suitcases and launch codes, which are explained here by NBC News. Trump’s ‘nuclear football’ would be returned to DC by a military assistant.
Further outlined by the New York Times here, Trump’s set of core launch codes would be deactivated around noon, while Biden’s would be once sworn in.
PENTAGON BLOCKING ACCESS
The meme ends with: “Why does the pentagon block access for members of Biden’s administration?”.
Susan Gough, a spokeswoman for the Department of Defense, told Reuters in an email that “the Pentagon crew is continuing”. As of January 25, the Pentagon has “appointed 32 political appointments from the Biden government” and more are expected in the coming weeks, Gogh added.
However, it is true that the cooperation came to a standstill during the transition period. As reported by Reuters here on December 18, 2020, holders of then-elected President Biden resisted their requests for information from some Pentagon officials. Further reporting by Politico can be seen here.
On January 22, Senate confirmed Biden’s nominated, retired Army general Lloyd Austin as secretary of defense (here).
VERDICT
Untrue. Meme contains six unrelated lies and three allegations that do not prove Biden ‘is not president’.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.