After President Joe Biden’s farewell address from the Oval Office on Wednesday night, some members of the incoming Trump administration’s communications team shared posts on X (formerly Twitter) suggesting that Biden’s speech was pre-recorded. These posts, as well as retweets by Steven Cheung, the incoming Communications Director, and Karoline Leavitt, the incoming Press Secretary, were later deleted. Leavitt’s repost remains on her X account, and based on the reactions to the deleted post, it’s believed that this was the one mentioned by the Associated Press.
However, there is no evidence to support the claim that Biden’s speech was pre-recorded, and the White House has not commented on the allegations.
In his farewell address, Biden warned of “storms ahead” and raised concerns about “tech barons” gaining control over the country. He delivered the speech as he prepared to hand over the White House to President-elect Donald Trump on January 20, 2025. Despite his efforts to run for re-election, Biden faced criticism over concerns about his age. If he had won a second term, Biden would have been 86 years old by the end of it.
The claims that Biden’s speech was pre-recorded stemmed from a still image shown before his address on the Associated Press’ livestream. Some users on X mistakenly thought it was a video being loaded.
These retweets are part of a larger narrative pushed by Donald Trump and his supporters, questioning Biden’s mental fitness. In June 2024, during a debate, Biden stumbled over his words and lost his train of thought, leading to criticism from Trump and others about Biden’s cognitive abilities. Trump even suggested that Biden take a cognitive test like he did. This narrative about Biden’s cognitive decline continued to spread, and Biden himself has blamed the negative public perception on misinformation circulating on social media.
While Biden has faced challenges with public approval, partly due to misinformation and difficulties connecting with voters in today’s media landscape, he has remained determined in his role. Meanwhile, Trump, who is also 78, has made questioning Biden’s ability to serve a second term a major focus of his campaign.
A recent Wall Street Journal article revealed that some of Biden’s staff had been trying to cover up signs of his cognitive decline, according to sources from the White House and Democratic circles.
