An image that has been shared thousands of times on social media and shows how US President Joe Biden is asleep in the Oval Office has been created digitally.
Facebook posts with the picture can be seen here, here, here, here. “Nothing says we’re better thrown in the towel that this nausea, the ‘commander-in-chief’, can not even stay awake,” reads the text that appears next to the image.
Other social media posts that contain a broader framework of the doctored image can be seen here and here.
The broader modified image shows that the setting of Biden’s desk is similar to the one visible here (see stack of floor folders on his right and white cup on his left), when he signed 15 executive actions shortly after he was sworn in on 20 January ( here).
Footage from the White House (here), Reuters (here, here) and various media (youtu.be/NTus5FevWhM, here) show that Biden covered a black face during the process.
Reuters could not find the exact photo or video frame used to create the edited image. A reverse search on the doctored photo shows similarities to the cover of a Fox News video here (see the position of his hands).
The modified image apparently replaced Biden’s head with a mirror image of a 2011 image visible here. As reported here by CBS, then-Vice President Biden closed his eyes for a long time during a speech by President Barack Obama on reducing the deficit.
Reuters previously unveiled a video that was processed to show how Biden fell asleep here during a live interview.
VERDICT
Alter. The photo of President Joe Biden who allegedly slept in the Oval Office has been digitally processed.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.