President Joe Biden often takes to Twitter to brag about his accomplishments in the White House — particularly with regard to the economy. But things went a little bit sideways when he tweeted just such a boast on April 1 — and critics quickly wrote it off as an April Fools Day prank.
As he has on a number of occasions, Biden began with the claim that the economy had been a mess when he took office. But he left out the fact that COVID restrictions were the reason many Americans were out of work — and the reason that many of the small businesses had closed.
“When I took office, the economy was reeling. Hundreds of thousands of small businesses had closed – and millions of Americans had lost their jobs,” Biden tweeted. “We got relief to small businesses fast to jumpstart the strongest recovery of any major economy in the world.”
When I took office, the economy was reeling.
Hundreds of thousands of small businesses had closed – and millions of Americans had lost their jobs.
We got relief to small businesses fast to jumpstart the strongest recovery of any major economy in the world.
— President Biden (@POTUS) April 1, 2023
A number of critics quickly capitalized on the fact that Biden’s tweet coincided with April Fools Day — and argued that it must have been a joke.
“I love a good April Fool’s joke,” the U.S. Ministry of Truth tweeted in response.
I love a good April Fool's Joke.
— U.S. Ministry of Truth (@USMiniTru) April 1, 2023
Doug Powers congratulated the presidential Twitter account for posting “the best April Fool joke” of the day.
The @POTUS account had the best April Fool joke yesterday. https://t.co/lTopwpsEQA
— Doug Powers (@ThePowersThatBe) April 2, 2023
Others simply pointed out the errors in Biden’s claims, noting the missing context — namely forced lockdowns and closures due to COVID — and arguing that the economy would have corrected as things opened whether Biden had acted or not.
“Small businesses were closed and people lost their jobs by mandate. The small relief program the SBA put forth under your admin was sued for discrimination, and promised funds were pulled from them last minute in a disgraceful maneuver. Otherwise, great tweet,” Carol Roth tweeted.
Small businesses were closed and people lost their jobs by mandate.
The small relief program the SBA put forth under your admin was sued for discrimination, and promised funds were pulled from them last minute in a disgraceful maneuver.
Otherwise, great tweet. https://t.co/3zZ9gWPcHX
— Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) April 1, 2023
“When you took office, inflation was at 1.4% and gas was $2.39/gal. Today, inflation is at 6% and gas is $3.50/gal. Real wages have fallen for 23 straight months. The list goes on and on and on,” Jake Schneider added.
When you took office, inflation was at 1.4% and gas was $2.39/gal. Today, inflation is at 6% and gas is $3.50/gal. Real wages have fallen for 23 straight months. The list goes on and on and on.
— Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) April 1, 2023
Twitter’s Community Notes even fact-checked the president, noting that the missing context actually made a big difference.
“Context is needed to remind readers that President Biden took office in January 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which had started to spread early in 2020, causing significant business closings and job loss,” one of the noted read.
