A look at what didn’t happen last week
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:
NO EVIDENCE PELOSI INVESTED $1.5M IN ‘FOREIGN OIL STOCK’
CLAIM: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi bought $1.5 million in “foreign oil stock” before President Joe Biden halted the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
THE FACTS: A post that circulated on Facebook falsely claimed Pelosi had bought foreign oil stock a day before President Joe Biden signed a Jan. 20 executive order revoking the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. The 1,700-mile pipeline was planned to carry roughly 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast, passing through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.
“Well WELL WELL. PELOSI buys 1.5 m in foreign oil stock day before shutdown of american line…” said a post with the erroneous information, falsely suggesting Pelosi committed insider trading. In fact, there is no record Pelosi bought significant stock shares recently.
The House Speaker filed a Periodic Transaction Report on Jan. 21, which disclosed stock shares or call options made by her husband, Paul Pelosi. There are no oil companies listed on the form.
BIDEN DID ANSWER QUESTIONS FROM HOUSE DEMOCRATS AT EVENT
CLAIM: The White House cut President Joe Biden’s feed at a virtual event with top House Democrats because they did not have confidence in him answering questions.
THE FACTS: Posts online are falsely suggesting a video clip of Biden’s introductory remarks at the House Democratic Caucus Virtual Issues Conference shows the White House is limiting the president’s talking time.
The 15-second clip was taken from comments Biden made praising Democratic leaders for their support and addressed the need to tackle issues related to racial injustice, confidence in the American government and the climate.
Conservative accounts shared the clip of Biden with captions meant to further propel a narrative pushed during the election that he is unfit for office. “The White House doesn’t even have enough confidence in Joe
Biden to answer questions? Wow,” Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative student group, tweeted.
In the clip, viewed more than 1.6 million times on Twitter, Biden says he would be happy to take questions. “And I’m happy to take questions if that’s what you — I’m supposed to do, Nance,” he says before the feed ends. “Whatever you want me to do.” The video feed of Biden then ends. But comments circulating with the clip misrepresent what was behind the cut.
On Wednesday, pool reporters were allowed to attend the introductory remarks made by Biden, but the session was then closed to the press for the president to take questions from House Democrats. The AP confirmed Biden did take questions from House Democrats including one on systemic racism and another on the child tax credit.
LEFT-WING PROTESTERS DIDN’T ‘STORM’ GEORGIA CAPITOL
CLAIM: Video shows left-wing protesters storming Georgia’s Capitol building in Atlanta or engaging in an insurrection over a bill that would require photo ID for absentee voting.
THE FACTS: There is no evidence that protests at Georgia’s state Capitol on Feb. 26 amounted to a storming of the Capitol or an insurrection. Yet a video clip of the protest circulated widely on social media last week with claims exaggerating what happened.
The 45-second clip showed a Georgia state trooper using a bullhorn to instruct protesters to disperse, citing a state law that allows arrests for disruptive protests at the Capitol. As the officer was speaking, Democratic Georgia Rep. Park Cannon approached him and put her ear up to the bullhorn, blocking it. Another officer moved her away by the arm, telling her to “step aside.” Cannon then engaged in an argument with the officers.
Social media users on Monday likened the protest in the video to the violent siege of the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, which resulted in five deaths and hundreds of arrests. “Leftists STORM Georgia Capitol In Response to ID Required for Absentee Ballots,” conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza wrote in a headline alongside the video on the video-sharing website Rumble.
However, the Georgia Department of Public Safety confirmed to the AP that the protesters entered the state Capitol lawfully and remained peaceful, unlike the rioters in the violent Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington.