Video of President Biden walking away from U.S. Air Force Academy football team has been edited

By: Ishita Goel
May 8 2023

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Context

On April 28, 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden awarded the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy to the Air Force Academy football team Falcons for winning football games against U.S. service academies. During the event, the Falcons presented souvenirs - the ball signed by the team, a helmet, and a football jersey/sweater - to Biden.

Following this, a clip from the event went viral, showing Biden accepting the sweater, then turning and walking away. The clip was circulated with claims that Biden forgot where he was and that his eyes started to wander after receiving the sweater, and he exited immediately. The video is being shared on Twitter and Facebook to insinuate that Biden is confused and incapable of acting as president. 

However, the viral clip has been cropped to further this narrative.

In Fact

We traced the complete 13-minute-long video of the event to the White House YouTube account, posted on April 28. At the 12:37 mark, Biden receives the jersey. At 12:55 min, Biden also receives the ball and the helmet, but he returns them to the presenter after holding them briefly. He then thanks the team members, and at the 13:32 mark, he leaves the stage with the jersey in his hand. 

The White House transcript from the event also prompts, "The President is presented with an Air Force Falcons jersey, football, and helmet." The transcript notes Biden's reactions after receiving each gift, such as, "he pretends to throw the football" and his comment, "Where I'm going tonight, I may need that helmet." The transcript and video show that he received all three gifts from the team. 

On April 29, Biden retweeted Air Force Football's tweet showing the photos from the event. In the group photos, we can see Biden holding all the souvenirs he was presented with. 

Getty Images also published a photo of Biden posing with the jersey, captioned: "U.S. President Joe Biden receives American football gifts with his name written on a jersey and a ball at the Commander-in-Chief Trophy Presentation event at the White House in Washington, D.C., United States on April 28, 2023."

The Verdict

An edited video claims to show Biden reacting in confusion and snubbing the U.S. Air Force Academy football team at an event, exiting with only one of three gifts he was presented with. The unedited video shows he received all three gifts, thanked the team, posed for pictures, and then left the stage. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.