Fact Check by: Ed Payne
Does a photo on social media show President Joe Biden sunbathing on a beach during the Hamas-Israel conflict and House speaker crisis in October 2023? No, that's not true: The picture shows the president and first lady Jill Biden at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on August 2, 2023. While the first couple did spend the weekend of October 20, 2023 in Delaware, they were not photographed sunbathing.
The claim appeared in a post (archived
here) published on Instagram from the account of American rapper and actor 50 Cent on October 22, 2023, under the title "Biden hits the beach with Middle East, Congress in chaos."
The photo of the Bidens appeared in a Daily Mail article (archived
here) published on August 2, 2023, with the title "EXCLUSIVE: Sleepy Joe! Biden sneaks in a NAP as he hits the beach with Jill againA couple of pictures from the article show the president snoozing on a warm August day
Delaware beach walk
However, multiple news organizations did report that the Bidens walked along the beach on October 22, 2023, on a chilly Sunday afternoon. A Google search (archived
here) on October 23, 2023, using the terms "Joe and Jill Biden walking beach October 2023," shows the president and the first lady taking a stroll:
(Source: Google screenshot taken on Mon Oct 23 15:38:32 2023 UTC)
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