State of the Union fact check – what did Biden get wrong?

Mr Biden made very few false claims in his address to Congress

President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address posed little trouble for fact checkers, with some major outlets left quibbling over minor details rather than calling out blatant lies as they did with his predecessor.

According to CNN, Mr Biden only made one claim in his remarks that turned out to be completely false.

That statement, in which he alleged that firearm manufacturers are “the only industry in America that can't be sued”, was not correct.

A 2005 law, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, does protect firearm makers from liability if their products are used to commit crimes.

But the PLCAA doesn’t prevent anyone from suing a gun manufacturer for any other reason. In fact, last month a prominent US arms maker, Remington, settled a lawsuit filed by parents whose children were murdered during the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre. That lawsuit targeted the company’s marketing practices.

The Washington Post’s fact checker found Mr Biden to have made a number of statements that needed further context.

One example was an oft-repeated line about 17 Nobel laureates endorsing his economic plan, which he called “Building a Better America”.

Yet the Post pointed out that Nobel winners in question did not endorse his new plan. Instead, they endorsed an earlier version of the now-dead Build Back Better act that would’ve cost taxpayers approximately $3.5 trillion.

With the House of Representatives’ mask mandates gone, Mr Biden’s speech was delivered to a packed, albeit socially distant, House chamber, with most of Congress, the Supreme Court, his cabinet, and a First Lady’s box full of guests including Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova.

The president hailed the courage of Ukrainian resistance against Vladimir Putin’s invasion, laid out a strategy to bolster the economy and fight inflation, and called for an end to Covid “lockdowns” and a return to offices for American workers.

“Throughout our history we’ve learned this lesson: When dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos. They keep moving, and the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising,” the president said, recounting the sanctions the US and allies have levied against Mr Putin and Russia since he ordered the invasion last week.