Biden is back at the White House. Viral claims that he was dying are unfounded

After President Joe Biden announced his exit from the 2024 race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the Democratic ticket, claims emerged online suggesting that Biden, 81, is missing, terminally ill, dying or already dead.

Multiple conservative social media users pushed these claims July 22, the day after Biden’s announcement:

• "Where’s Biden? This is the last time he was seen in public," claimed a July 22 X post from the Republican National Committee-run RNC Research account.

• "Joe Biden is currently in hospice care and is unlikely to survive the night," read a July 22 Instagram post. It showed a screengrab of an X post from an account called Global Press.

• "Joe Biden is dying and final preparations are being made for him. He was supposed to leave Delaware today, but his health has deteriorated," a July 22 X post from conservative activist and commentator Laura Loomer claimed.

• "Rumors are circulating that Joe Biden is dead," a July 22 X post from a conservative blue check user named Matt Wallace claimed.

Similar claims about Biden’s health also circulated in Spanish.

These claims are unfounded. Biden has been out of the public eye for several days because he was diagnosed with COVID-19 on July 17 and has been recovering at his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Biden returned to the White House on July 23.

Some social media posts speculated that he had something more serious than COVID-19, but a recent report from the White House doctor showed that "the president’s symptoms have resolved." The report also said that during his infection, his vital signs and lungs remained normal. 

Biden spoke by telephone July 22 to his campaign staff for the first time after endorsing Harris. Although some on social media speculated that Biden’s voice on the call was generated with artificial intelligence, we found no credible information to support that. The White House did not respond to our inquiries but it posted the transcript of the call on its website and said it was "via teleconference."

Biden responded to multiple questions by Harris during the call.

He made his first appearance July 23, and journalists captured video of him boarding the Air Force One. He told reporters he’s feeling "well."

The president is scheduled to address the nation at 8 p.m. July 24. The next day, Biden is meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in addition to other public appearances that day and later in the week.

Former President Donald Trump said on Truth Social: "Does Lyin’ Kamala Harris think Joe Biden is fit to run the U.S.A. for the next six months? She must answer the question. Now it appears Joe is delegating his Presidential Authority to unelected Washington Bureaucrats!"

Other social media users, such as Loomer, made statements similar to Trump’s:

"Biden is dying and has started quietly delegating his authority as president to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of State," said a July 22 X post. 

The post shows a memorandum on "The Delegation of Certain Functions and Authorities Under the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity for Ukrainians Act." It also shows another one in the post’s thread about the Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024.

But we found that these memos Biden signed aren’t unusual and aren’t evidence that he is transferring his presidential power.

Trump signed similar memos back in 2019 and 2020, as did other presidents, including Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

Legal experts told us that the memos shared in the posts are entirely unremarkable.

Brian Kalt, a law professor at Michigan State University, told PolitiFact that presidents issue these memorandums so they can authorize others to make laws come to pass. 

He said that the delegation of power signed by Biden in those memorandums follows the terms of 3 U.S.C. § 301, which states:

The President of the United States is authorized to designate and empower the head of any department or agency in the executive branch, or any official thereof who is required to be appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to perform without approval, ratification, or other action by the President (1) any function which is vested in the President by law, or (2) any function which such officer is required or authorized by law to perform only with or subject to the approval, ratification, or other action of the President.

"There are so many federal laws giving so many responsibilities to presidents that there is no way for them to do everything themselves. Section 301 recognized this and made the delegation of presidential power more regular and formulaic," Kalt said.

Joel Goldstein, an emeritus law professor at St. Louis University School of Law, told us that if Biden were to transfer his presidential powers and duties to the vice president, he would do so under Section 3 of the 25th Amendment. 

"The president must transmit a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the United States Senate stating that he or she is ‘unable to  discharge the powers and duties of his office’ and is accordingly transferring presidential power and duties to the vice president under Section 3 of the Amendment," Goldstein said in an email.

Such powers transfers have occurred only four times in U.S. history, during the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush (twice) and Biden, when he underwent a medical procedure under anesthesia.

"President Biden has not done so in this case nor is there reason to believe that he is unable to discharge presidential powers and duties," Goldstein said.

Many of the claims about Biden dying or having serious health issues originated on X from conservative users who are known to spread false or misleading information. These users cited no sources to support their claims.

RNC Research shared posts saying Biden was missing. The two posts collectively received hundreds of thousands of views.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said on X that Biden was "hiding" and demanded "proof of life" from him by 5 p.m. July 22. This post was viewed 5.8 million times. (Biden appeared publicly the next day, returning to the White House.)

Loomer posted multiple times on X about Biden "dying" or being "terminally ill." Collectively, these posts were viewed more than 33.8 million times.

Samuel Woolley, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Journalism and Media who specializes in propaganda research, said the claims about Biden’s health are likely spreading so quickly and widely online because he dropped out of the presidential race amid widespread discussion of his age and fitness.

These claims are "deeply tied" to previous messaging about Biden’s health, Woolley said.

"The rumors about Biden’s health echo past false claims about Hillary Clinton’s ‘fainting’ episode in 2016 and Donald Trump’s physical fitness in 2018," Woolley said.

On July 23, false claims that former President Jimmy Carter had died circulated on social media.