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Biden Hasn’t Suspended In-Person Campaigning


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A false claim on social media suggests former Vice President Joe Biden has stopped all in-person campaigning until the election. He has plans to visit several states before Nov. 3.


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Conservative websites and social media accounts are pushing a false claim that former Vice President Joe Biden has decided to suspend in-person campaigning until the Nov. 3 election.

In reality, Biden visited Pennsylvania on Oct. 26 after the claim began racking up thousands of shares across platforms — and he has plans to visit other states in the final days of the campaign.

“I’m going to be going to Iowa, I’m going to Wisconsin, I’m going to Georgia, I’m going to Florida, and maybe other places as well,” Biden said in Pennsylvania.

The falsehood circulated online following an announcement that the Biden campaign had called a “lid” early on Oct. 25, meaning he was done with public events that day — though he participated in a virtual concert later that day.

Headlines, tweets and Facebook posts wrongly claimed the “lid” was in effect until Nov. 3 — and some closely mirrored an Oct. 23 headline from the Babylon Bee, a conservative satirical website, that read: “Biden Calls A Lid Until Election Day.”

An Oct. 25 tweet from JT Lewis, a supporter of President Donald Trump who ran for Connecticut’s state senate but later withdrew his bid, read: “Joe Biden says he won’t do any more in person campaigning for the remaining 9 days.” The tweet was later deleted.

Among other posts spreading the erroneous claim was one on Facebook, alleging that “Joe just called a lid until the election!” It shared a screenshot of a Breitbart headline that vaguely said, “Joe Biden’s Campaign Calls a Lid on In-Person Campaigning.” The story itself said that “Biden is off the campaign trail without any in-person events scheduled,” but went on to say the lid was “for the day.” 

Headlines peddling the false claim appeared on a website belonging to conservative personality David Harris Jr. and on the Gateway Pundit, which wrote: “It’s a Lid! Trump Campaign Staff Says Joe Biden Will Not Do Any More In-Person Campaigning Until Election.”

According to the Washington Post, Biden will visit Georgia on Oct. 27. And he has plans to be in Florida on Oct. 29, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. The Biden campaign also confirmed those reports to us.

Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here.

This fact check is available at IFCN’s 2020 US Elections FactChat #Chatbot on WhatsApp. Click here for more.

Sources

Biden Calls A Lid Until Election Day.” Babylon Bee. 23 Oct 2020.

Election live updates: Trump, Biden both campaigning in Pennsylvania.” Washington Post. 26 Oct 2020.

Glueck, Katie (@katieglueck). “Good (late) morning from Wilmington, where Biden is spending the day. I was pool. He attended church and now has a lid on in-person campaign events for the day. He’s slated to deliver remarks during a virtual concert tonight.” Twitter. 25 Oct 2020.

Joe Biden Campaign Remarks in Chester, Pennsylvania.” C-SPAN. 26 Oct 2020.

Man, Anthony. “Joe Biden will return to Florida as presidential campaign races to finish line.” South Florida Sun Sentinel. 26 Oct 2020.