President Biden has been known to tell some pretty outrageous lies throughout his political career. So, it came as no surprise when Ol’ Sleepy Joe spewed out more than a few whoppers during his State of the Union address on Thursday.
From foreign policy to the economy, there was almost no subject in which the president didn’t lie to the American people. In case you missed his dumpster fire speech, here’s the definitive list of Biden’s biggest SOTU falsehoods.
1. Sending Money To Ukraine
Biden claimed that Republicans who oppose sending additional U.S. taxpayer dollars to Ukraine are doing so because they want America to “walk away from our leadership in the world.” That is false. Opponents of endlessly funding Ukraine’s war with Russia have regularly stated that American interests must come before those of other nations.
2. Trump’s NATO Remarks
Biden claimed former President Trump told Vladimir Putin, “Do whatever the hell you want,” regarding Russia’s invasion of Eastern Europe. But that’s not accurate.
The former president’s remarks came during a recent South Carolina rally, during which Trump recounted a story from when he was president and speaking with a NATO member. Trump purportedly told this state that he would withhold U.S. support if they didn’t pay their minimum defense spending obligations.
“‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’” Trump recalled telling the unidentified NATO member. “‘No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills.’”
3. World Security And Ukraine
Biden claimed “the free world is at risk” if the U.S. doesn’t ship more American taxpayer dollars to Ukraine. There is literally no evidence to support this assertion.
4. Jan. 6 Demonstrations
The president claimed that the Jan.6, 2021, demonstrations at the U.S. Capitol and concerns and lawsuits regarding the integrity of the 2020 election “posed the gravest threat to [American] democracy since the Civil War.”
Contrary to Biden’s claim, the J6 events did not put American self-governance in jeopardy, nor did it expose Americans to risks like those experienced during World War I, the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor, or World War II, to name a few.
5. Alabama IVF Issue
Biden falsely contended the Alabama Supreme Court “shut down IVF treatments across the state.” That is not what the decision said. As The Federalist’s Jordan Boyd reported, Alabama’s highest court “ruled that embryos are people with inherent value, not legal property.”
6. Kate Cox
Biden claimed the life of Kate Cox, a Texas woman who left the Lonestar State to obtain an abortion, was “at risk” during her pregnancy.
As Susan Bane wrote in these pages, Cox’s now-deceased unborn baby was diagnosed with Trisomy 18, “a condition associated with severe developmental delays.” These children “can sometimes thrive into their early twenties.” Cox was not at risk of dying from the diagnosis, however.
7. Covid Shots And Cancer
Biden falsely claimed the Covid jabs are “now being used to help beat cancer.”
8. 15 Million New Jobs
The president regurgitated the lie that his administration has “created 15 million new jobs.” That assertion is false, as Biden conflated jobs recovered after Covid lockdowns with actual, new jobs created.
9. U.S. Inflation Rate
Biden claimed the U.S. has “the lowest” inflation rate in the world. Numerous countries currently have a lower inflation rate.
10. Consumer Confidence
The president said that “consumer studies show consumer confidence is soaring.” MarketWatch reported last month, however, that the consumer confidence index “fell to 106.7 from a revised 110.9 in January.”
11. Drug Prices
Biden said he’s “ending” the trend of Americans paying “more for prescription drugs than anywhere else.” That is false, as Reuters recently reported that new drugs released by pharmaceutical companies last year were “at prices 35% higher than in 2022.”
12. Biden Beat Big Pharma
The president claimed his administration “beat Big Pharma!” However, the president empowered pharmaceutical companies when he unlawfully attempted to mandate private businesses force their employees to receive the Covid shot.
13. Student Loans
Biden contended that he “fixed student loan programs to reduce the burden of student debt for nearly 4 Million Americans, including nurses, firefighters, and others in public service.” That is false. Biden’s illegal efforts merely transferred the responsibility of paying back these loans to individuals who never attended college or had already paid back their loans.
14. Decreasing The Federal Deficit
Biden falsely claimed he “cut the federal deficit by over one trillion dollars” and has been “delivering real results in a fiscally responsible way.” Both claims are false. In fact, the U.S. national debt has risen by more than 6 trillion since Biden took office.
15. Corporations Aren’t Paying Their Fair Share
Biden insinuated that “big corporations and the very wealthy” do not “pay their fair share.” As organizations such as The Heritage Foundation have reported, wealthy Americans pay the “large majority of taxes” in the United States.
16. Trump Tax Cuts
Biden falsely claimed the Trump tax cuts “overwhelmingly benefit[ed] the very wealthy and the biggest corporations.” Data produced by the IRS has shown that “on average all income brackets benefited substantially from the Republicans’ tax reform law, with the biggest beneficiaries being working and middle-income filers, not the top 1 percent,” according to The Hill.
17. The National Debt Under Trump
Biden stated that the Trump administration “added more to the national debt than in any presidential term in American history.” This is untrue. Democrats’ favorite “fact-checking” outlet, PolitiFact, admitted that “former President Barack Obama accumulated more debt than Trump.”
18. Inflation Reduction Act
In an apparent reference to the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act,” Biden claimed “nobody earning less than $400,000 will pay an additional penny in federal taxes.” Yet, estimates produced by the Joint Committee on Taxation predict that the Democrats’ bill does “nothing to bring the economy out of stagnation and recession, but it will raise billions of dollars in taxes on Americans making less than $400,000.”
19. How Many Billionaires?
The president claimed there are 1,000 billionaires in the U.S. According to Forbes, there are 735 billionaires in America as of 2023.
20. How Much Billionaires Pay In Taxes
Biden falsely claimed the average federal tax rate for billionaires is 8.2 percent. Once again, the left’s favorite “fact-checking” site, PolitiFact, rated the president’s assertion “false,” as “the richest Americans pay an effective tax rate of more than 20% on the income the government counts under the current tax code.”
21. The Ukraine-Border Bill
Biden claimed the border boondoggle negotiated behind closed doors by Senate leadership contained “the toughest set of border security reforms we’ve ever seen” and would “bring order to the border.” That statement could not be further from the truth, as the bill would have only exasperated the ongoing southern border invasion.
22. Election Law Falsehoods
The president insinuated that Republican-backed election integrity measures, supported by most Americans, take “us back in time” and constitute “voter suppression and “election subversion.” There has never been any evidence these laws do what the president suggested.
23. Book Bans
The president regurgitated the falsehood that conservatives are banning books.
24. ‘Lincoln’ Riley
Biden claimed an illegal immigrant killed a young woman named “Lincoln” Riley. That is incorrect. Her name is Laken Riley.
25. Trump’s Comments On Iowa School Shooting
Biden misrepresented remarks given by Trump in response to a January Iowa school shooting, which left one dead and several injured. As The Federalist reported, the shooter “flirted with Democrat gender ideology.”
In his SOTU address, Biden claimed Trump told Iowans to “get over it.” Of course, Biden took the comments out of context, which shows Trump sympathizing with the victims and speaking about the importance of moving forward as a community.
“To the entire community, we love you, we pray for you, and we ask God to heal and comfort, really, the whole state. … We’re really with you as much as anybody can be. It’s a very terrible thing that happened,” Trump said. “It’s just terrible. … That’s just horrible. It’s so surprising to see it here. … But we have to get over it. We have to move forward. … To all the relatives, and all the people who are devastated right now, to the point they can’t breathe, they can’t live, we are with you all the way.”
26. The Second Amendment
The president falsely claimed that a “ban” on so-called “assault weapons” doesn’t constitute a violation of the Second Amendment.
27. Biden’s Teaching Career
Biden falsely asserted he “taught the Second Amendment for 12 years.”
28. Gaza Deaths
Biden said that “most” of the people killed in Gaza “are not Hamas,” including “thousands [who] are innocent women and children.” Given that these figures are provided by “local authorities” (A.K.A. Hamas), it’s unknown whether they are accurate.
29. America’s Prospects Challenging China
Biden claimed the U.S. is “in a stronger position to win the competition for the 21st Century against China or anyone else for that matter.” Given the ongoing border invasion, economic woes, and foreign policy failures under Biden’s presidency, this statement is not true.
30. The Idea Of America
Biden ludicrously contended that America has “never fully lived up to” the idea that “we are all created equal.”
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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