Video does not show Joe Biden holding hands with the ‘wrong person’—First Lady Jill Biden was not present at the same occasion

 

Screenshots of the Facebook posts. 

 

News Brief 

A video was shared Sept. 23, 2022, on Facebook, along with a claim that it shows Joe Biden holding hands with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer dressed in purple, but not his wife who wore a red outfit at the same occasion. As of the publication of this report, the Facebook video caption had been edited, but the claim was still circulating online.  

As of the time of publication, the Facebook post had been shared 21 times, and had received 85 comments as well as 578 likes or reactions. Similar claims have been circulating here and here. 

Fact-checking 

Through reverse image searches, a video published Sept. 15, 2022 on Twitter by the U.S. media organization The Recount has been found. It shows the same scene as in the Facebook video. According to the caption of the Twitter video, Joe Biden was holding hands with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at the Detroit Auto Show. 

Screenshot comparison between the Twitter video (top) and the Facebook video (bottom). 

Keyword searches found an article published Sept. 15, 2022 by The Associated Press. According to the article, Joe Biden visited the Detroit Auto Show on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022. He promoted electric vehicles during the event. The women wearing red and purple outfits shown in the Facebook video were captured in a group photo shared in the AP article.  The caption states that the woman in red is Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell and the woman in purple is Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. 

The woman in red (fifth from left) is Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) 

On Sept. 15, 2022, Dingell published a group photo with a woman dressed in red on Twitter. The tweet was hashtagged #DetroitAutoShow2022. She also published a YouTube video of her speech at the Detroit Auto Show on the same day. After comparing the outfit, hairstyle and accessories of the woman dressed in red in both videos, it has been confirmed that the woman in red shown in the Facebook video is Debbie Dingell, not First Lady Jill Biden. 

Comparison of the photo published by Dingell on Twitter (top left), the screenshot of Dingbell’s speech video published on YouTube (top right) and the screenshot of the Facebook video (bottom). 

Further keyword searches produced no information about Jill Biden’s attendance at the Detroit Auto Show on Sept. 14, 2022. According to a video published by Jill Biden on Twitter and relevant news articles, she wore a blue dress when she attended an event at the White House to meet the champion of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Sept. 14, 2022. 

Screenshots of the video published by Jill Biden on Twitter.