The claim: President Joe Biden has officially filed for reelection
The presidential election is still more than two years away, but multiple social media posts claim President Joe Biden has already filed for reelection.
“Joe Biden has officially filed for reelection,” reads an Aug. 30 Instagram post, which is accompanied by a string of laughing emoji and has more than 7,000 likes.
The claim was also spread by “Students for Trump” founder Ryan Fournier, whose Aug. 30 Facebook post was shared more than 300 times before it was deleted. Fournier told USA TODAY in an email he had tried to delete it “almost immediately after it was posted.”
The claim is false. The claims stem from document dated Aug. 26 and signed Aug. 30 that was filed with the Federal Election Commission by Biden’s campaign committee. It was not a reelection filing, but rather a routine update to change the name of the treasurer.
USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment.
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FEC filing was for treasurer change
In response to a USA TODAY inquiry, the White House deferred questions to the Democratic National Committee. Daniel Wessel, a DNC spokesperson, said the recent FEC filing was not related to a Biden reelection bid.
“This was just updating the form to change the treasurer name because the former treasurer is taking a government job,” Wessel said.
This wasn’t the first time Biden’s campaign committee has reported a treasurer change. A similar filing was made last year, according to documents available on the FEC’s website.
Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said he found no evidence of a candidate filing by the Biden campaign on the FEC website.
“That would be the clearest indicator that Biden has ‘officially’ launched a reelection campaign,” Burden told USA TODAY.
Fact check: Social media post shows fabricated story about Biden and the economy
All candidates for federal office have to file with the FEC and regularly report both donations and expenditures related to the campaign, Burden said, but no prominent Democratic or Republican has officially filed statements of candidacy for the 2024 election cycle.
“Many political figures are already campaigning for president in unofficial ways by giving speeches, publishing books and podcasts, traveling to key areas, endorsing candidates for office, and even raising and spending money through non-campaign organizations,” he said.
Last year, Biden said he intended to run for reelection and “would fully expect” Vice President Kamala Harris to be his running mate.
Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that Biden has officially filed for reelection. A recent filing with the FEC by Biden’s campaign committee was not related to a reelection bid but was made to change the name of the treasurer.
Our fact-check sources:
- Daniel Wessel, Aug. 31, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- Barry Burden, Aug. 31, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- Ryan Fournier, Aug. 31, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- Federal Election Commission, accessed Aug. 31, Biden for President
- Federal Election Commission, Aug. 30, Statement of Organization
- Federal Election Commission, May 18, 2021, Statement of Organization
- Federal Election Commission, Jan. 12, 2021, Statement of Organization
- Reuters, Nov. 22, 2021, White House says Biden intends to run again in 2024
- USA TODAY, March 25, 2021, Joe Biden said he plans to run for reelection in 2024 and ‘would fully expect’ Kamala Harris to be running mate
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