Snopes Forced To Reverse ‘False’ Rating On Claim About Biden’s Hard Hat Photo Op
Although so-called “fact-checkers” like the folks at Snopes have long been seen by many critics as left-leaning, sometimes they can still be pressured into admitting their errors. That was the case recently when the site responded to claims surrounding a photo of President Joe Biden during a trip to Wisconsin during which he appeared to be wearing a hard hat backward.
Somewhere a staffer is updating their resume… https://t.co/X1GU9m9cql
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) January 26, 2024
Biden was pictured during a visit to union workers in Wisconsin alongside Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. The photo clearly shows Biden wearing the hard hat backwards, with the strap and tightening knob clearly visible.
Snopes’ initial fact check, published Friday, attempted to explain the appearance.
“The photo is genuine. And it does look, at first glance, like Biden was wearing that hard hat backwards. But after comparing it to other photos and videos of the same event, we were forced to reach the opposite conclusion: The hat on Biden’s head was facing forward, bill to the front, not backward,” Snopes claimed.
The social media backlash was swift and ultimately provided enough pressure to convince Snopes to change its “false” assessment to “true.”
Snopes fact-check: “Biden wore a hard hat backwards” is misinformation
Who are you going to believe:
Snopes or your lying eyes? pic.twitter.com/p30Qu0uWlY— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 27, 2024
Snopes wrote an entire fact-check to convince you Biden didn’t wear this hard hat backward 😂https://t.co/8sRahQgvHIhttps://t.co/8sRahQgvHI
— Not the Bee (@Not_the_Bee) January 27, 2024
This video exposes that Snopes was lying and Joe Biden did wear his hard hat backward. Biden is so anti-worker that he can’t even fake it. The lame UAW President who endorsed Biden looks more pathetic by the day.
pic.twitter.com/fXqaLUOqqm— Charles R Downs (@TheCharlesDowns) January 27, 2024
The day after the initial article was published, Snopes amended it with an editor’s note.
According to BizPac Review:
“Editor’s Note: We received a ton of comments in a very short time challenging our assumption that wearing a hard hat ‘backwards’ means wearing it with the brim facing to the rear, and ‘forwards’ means wearing it brim to the front. On the basis of that assumption, we originally rated the claim that Biden was wearing a hard hat backwards as false,” wrote Snopes, correcting their false fact check.
“The prevailing counter-argument is that if the suspension of the hat has been purposely configured by its owner such that the bill and tightening knob are worn to the back (as was the case of the hat Biden wore), to wear that hat with the bill facing forward is, practically speaking, to wear it backwards. Therefore, it’s argued, it’s actually true that, in the photo op discussed below, Biden was wearing it backwards. The strap and tightening knob, which should have been behind Biden’s head, were on his forehead,” the website added.
“We find these arguments sound. Therefore, the claim ‘President Joe Biden wore a hard hat backwards during a photo op with union construction workers in Superior, Wisconsin’ is true, and this fact check has been re-rated as such. Thanks to all who argued on behalf of this correction,” Snopes fessed up.
UPDATE: We bullied Snopes into changing their fact-check. They now admit that Joe Biden wore his hard hat backwards. https://t.co/K29Kfm4QWk pic.twitter.com/xvMgQ0e9LC
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 27, 2024
If that’s not enough embarrassment from his Wisconsin trip, don’t forget about his incoherent remarks during a visit to a local brewery:
