FactChecking Biden’s CNN Town Hall
In a prime-time town hall aired on CNN, President Joe Biden overstated some facts and misled on others.
- The COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective in preventing symptomatic disease, hospitalizations and deaths from the disease. But no vaccine is 100% effective, as Biden suggested in contradictory remarks.
- Biden also overstepped when he referenced the delta variant. It’s not yet clear whether it is “more deadly.”
- He overstated the percentage of fully vaccinated people in the U.S. older than 50. But he was close if considering those who had received at least one shot.
- The president made a misleading claim about his administration creating more jobs to date than previous administrations. On a percentage basis, job growth was slightly higher during the same five-month period of Jimmy Carter’s presidency in 1977.
- Biden said “the cost of an automobile is kind of back to what it was before the pandemic.” According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index for new and used cars in cities was up about 20% between January 2020 and June of this year, but a car price expert says that’s partly because people are buying bigger, more expensive cars.
- Although Americans’ trust in the federal government has ticked up a bit since 2019, it’s at about the same (low) level under Biden as it was late in Donald Trump’s presidency. Biden cited the small uptick, which some may have taken to mean there has been improvement since he took office.
The town hall was broadcast on July 21 from Cincinnati, Ohio.
Vaccine Effectiveness
The COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the U.S. in preventing symptomatic disease, hospitalizations and deaths from the disease. But no vaccine is 100% effective,
