A shakey viral video on Facebook claims to show former Vice President Joe Biden wearing a wire during the first presidential debate. It’s not a wire but a crease in his shirt.
As reported by Daniel Funke at Politifact…
Did Biden get help during the debate? No — the posts are baseless, and other fact-checkers have debunked them. But they quickly took off on social media.
The video appears to have been posted around 9:45 p.m on Sept. 29. It was then shared in several Facebook groups dedicated to Trump and QAnon, a baseless conspiracy theory about child sex trafficking. As of Sept. 30, claims that Biden wore a wire had been shared in hundreds of Facebook posts, according to CrowdTangle, a social media insights tool.
Biden was not wearing a wire during the debate — the video shows a crease in Biden’s dress shirt, which is accentuated by the bright TV lights. Thin shadows similar to the one highlighted in the clip also appear on the left side of his shirt.
As reported by Ciara O’Rourke at Politifact…
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden didn’t wear an earpieceduring the first presidential debate, and he didn’t tweet about one either.
“I have consulted with Instagram’s CEO to take the page @electionleaks down,” reads what looks like a tweet from Bidenthat’s being shared on Instagram. “They have supposedly ‘video proof’ of me using a hidden earpiece in tonight’s debate. This is slander, and not true. Do not follow them.”
This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The Biden campaign told us this isn’t an authentic tweet.
Searching Biden’s verified Twitter account, we didn’t find that tweet. Searching for “ear piece” and “earpiece,” we found one from debate night — but it’s a joke.
