The claim: Biden signed an executive order ending Social Security, SSI and ‘side hustles’
A March 23 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a video of President Joe Biden delivering a speech.
“President Biden signs an executive order to terminate Social Security, SSI, bans side hustle,” reads text included in the video. “This bill will take action in June 12 2024.”
The post was shared more than 100 times in less than two weeks.
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Our rating: False
Biden has not signed an executive order to end Social Security, Supplemental Security Income and “side hustles,” according to the Federal Register.
Debt ceiling comments misrepresented
The Federal Register tracks the executive orders signed by all presidents and shows 137 signed by Biden between his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021, and April 2, 2024. None of the orders terminate Social Security or Supplemental Security Income or even mention “side hustles.”
The video included in the post also does not show Biden signing an executive order. Rather, it shows an excerpt from comments the president made about the debt ceiling in October 2021. In those remarks, he talks about the importance of raising the limit.
“It’s about paying for what we owe and preventing a catastrophic event occurring in our economy,” Biden says in the clip.
His full remarks can be found in a video and transcript posted online by the White House. He makes no mention of ending Social Security, Supplemental Security Income or “side hustles,” work performed for supplemental income in addition to one’s primary job, in the remarks.
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USA TODAY has debunked numerous posts that pair false captions with videos of politicians or cable news programming, a type of misinformation known as “false framing.”
Experts say the technique works in two ways. First, users tend to trust a post that features authentic footage from what they recognize as a credible source. It also exploits how users often scroll past the video with the sound off, never realizing the caption doesn’t match what the video shows.
USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the claim for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Reuters also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
- Federal Register, accessed April 1, 2021 Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Executive Orders
- Federal Register, accessed April 1, 2022 Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Executive Orders
- Federal Register, accessed April 1, 2023 Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Executive Orders
- Federal Register, accessed April 1, 2024 Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Executive Orders
- The White House, Oct. 6, 2021, Remarks by President Biden on the Need to Raise the Debt Ceiling
- The White House (via YouTube), Oct. 6, 2021, President Biden Hosts a Meeting with Business Leaders and CEOs on Addressing the Debt Limit
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Source: False claim Biden ordered end to Social Security, SSI
