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Did President Biden Joke About Running Over a Reporter in a Car?
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Did President Biden Joke About Running Over a Reporter in a Car?

He made clear he was joking, but yes.

Alec Dent
May 19, 2021
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Did President Biden Joke About Running Over a Reporter in a Car?
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(Photo by Nicholas Kamm/AFP/ Getty Images.)

A number of viral social media posts claim that President Joe Biden said he would answer a question about Israel from a reporter only if she got “in front of the car” as he stepped on the gas. Some posts more generally referenced Biden saying he would run over a journalist. 

Twitter avatar for @seungminkimSeung Min Kim @seungminkim
Via pooler @AlexThomp, as Biden test-drives a Ford F-150: The pool asked the president if we could ask a question about Israel. The president said “no, you can’t. Not unless you get in front of the car as I step on it. I’m only teasing”.

May 18th 2021

370 Retweets1,683 Likes

These are based on real remarks Biden made while at an event in Dearborn, Michigan. The president test drove Ford's electric F-150 Lightning pickup and delivered a speech about electric vehicles and green energy. Biden refused to answer a question about Israel, instead making a quip and driving away. As ABC News reported: “Just before speeding off, asked by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega if she could first ask him a question about Israel, Biden joked, ‘No, you can't. Not unless you get in front of the car as I step on it. I'm only teasing.’” The comment was also widely reported elsewhere and the Washington Post has posted video of the exchange.

While Biden made it clear he was joking about running anyone over, it is true that the president made a joke about doing so and refused to answer questions about Israel. 

If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com.

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Did President Biden Joke About Running Over a Reporter in a Car?
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Victor Clairmont
May 20, 2021

Biden in a truck with big tires?

I guess his joke went flat.

(⌐■_■)

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Nicco
May 19, 2021

When I was a child, if I said something mean to my friend/sibling, I would often follow it with, “just kidding!” to avoid getting in trouble. Inevitably, I still got in trouble because what I said was inappropriate.

Biden’s remark was inappropriate, and he ought to apologize to the reporter (and all reporters) for (even jokingly) threatening their life in response to them doing their job.

Trump and his supporters played the “joke” card all the time, even when it wasn’t clear he was joking. I thought we had moved on from that…

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