No, Joe Biden didn’t single out antifa as ‘courageous’

President Donald Trump blamed the anti-fascist movement known as antifa for violence at some of the early protests against police brutality, without offering evidence. Antifa is an umbrella term for a movement of far-left, anti-fascists, and not a unified organization.

Now, posts on Facebook claim that Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, said "antifa are courageous Americans." 

Did he really? The post says, "Yes folks. He really said that."

No, folks, he didn’t.

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) 

We searched for the quote in Biden’s interviews, campaign videos and speeches. The faux-quote appears to be linked to something Biden said in an April 2019 campaign video when he formally announced his candidacy. 

Biden discussed the "Unite the Right" white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017. 

Biden recapped the events, saying (around 1 minute in) that protesters were "met by a courageous group of Americans." An image of a poster board that reads, "VA students act against white supremacy," is displayed as Biden talks.

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stated on August 21, 2018 in in a blog post

"California lawmakers are planning to push free abortion pills on all students across the state as part of a ‘super progressive’ new policy."

In context, Biden was broadly referring to people who opposed white nationalist demonstrators during those events. While anti-fascist counter-protesters fall under this designation, so do many others. Some of the counter-protesters were students, ministers from local churches, ordinary residents of Charlottesville, and racial justice advocates.

Groups of antifa counter-protesters violently clashed with white nationalists at the Charlottesville rallies. Some witnesses said they incited the violence, which included people swinging sticks and clubs, throwing projectiles, spraying chemicals and getting into brawls. Each side blames the other for escalating the situation.

A Facebook post claims that Biden said, "Antifa are courageous Americans."

Biden didn’t say that. He spoke broadly about "courageous" people who stood up to white nationalists during the 2017 Charlottesville rallies, and didn’t specifically call out, mention or praise antifa. 

We rate this False.