Fact check: Viral post backing Trump came from imposter Hallie Biden account
The claim: Hallie Biden said Donald Trump won the 2020 election
Nearly two years after the 2020 presidential election, former President Donald Trump and his supporters continue to claim the election was rigged. On Aug. 29, Trump demanded to either be instated as the rightful president of the U.S. or have the country perform "a new election, immediately!"
A recent social media post claims President Joe Biden's daughter-in-law is backing the debunked claim that Trump won in 2020.
An Aug. 30 Facebook post claims Hallie Biden tweeted support for Trump and his performance in the 2020 presidential election.
"President Trump won that election and my entire family knows it," the supposed tweet reads.
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The post garnered more than 90 likes in two weeks. A previous version garnered more than 100 likes in its first four days before it was deleted. Screenshots of other tweets purportedly shared by Hallie Biden have been published on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
USA TODAY and other fact-checkers have repeatedly debunked false and misleading claims that Trump won the 2020 election, as an array of recounts and audits by election officials from both parties have confirmed the legitimacy of Biden's win.
The purported Hallie Biden tweet is also false – in both its content and attribution.
A spokesperson for Hallie Biden said the Twitter account was run by an imposter, not Hallie Biden. It has since been suspended.
USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the claim for comment.
Twitter account was not owned by Hallie Biden
The tweet in question did not come from Hallie Biden, as she doesn't use the platform.
"Mrs. Hallie Biden does not have a Twitter account," a spokesperson for the Beau Biden Foundation, a charity organization for which Hallie Biden is a board chair, told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. "Any account bearing her name is fraudulent."
The account was suspended sometime between Aug. 31 and Sept. 2, according to online archives.
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Before it was suspended, the Twitter account claiming to be Hallie Biden did not have a blue verification checkmark, which indicates the authenticity of public figures on the platform. Twitter's policies prohibit the impersonation of individuals to deceive or manipulate others.
Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that Hallie Biden said Trump won the 2020 election. A spokesperson for Hallie Biden said the post comes from an imposter account, not from her directly. The account has since been suspended.
Our fact-check sources:
- Insider, Aug. 29, Trump demands reinstatement as 'rightful' president or 'a new Election, immediately!' as some Republicans seek distance from him
- USA TODAY, Jan. 6, Fact check: How we know the 2020 election results were legitimate, not 'rigged' as Donald Trump claims
- USA TODAY, Aug. 29, Fact check: No, sending postcards to state officials won't decertify 2020 election results
- USA TODAY, July 29, 2021, Fact check: Arizona audit hasn't found 275,000 fraudulent votes
- USA TODAY, Sept. 28, 2021, Fact check: Arizona audit affirmed Biden's win, didn't prove voter fraud, contrary to Trump claim
- Beau Biden Foundation, Sept. 6, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- Beau Biden Foundation, accessed Sept. 6, Our Board
- Twitter via Archive Today, Aug. 31, Hallie Biden profile page
- Twitter Help Center, accessed Sept. 2, About Verified Accounts
- Twitter, accessed Sept. 2, Hallie Biden profile page
- Twitter Help Center, accessed Sept. 2, Misleading and deceptive identities policy
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Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.