President Joe Biden didn’t board an empty plane after prisoner swap; he thanked the flight crew

Three Americans touched U.S. soil for the first time since they were freed Aug. 1 in the biggest prisoner swap with Russia in post-Soviet history.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were among the people waiting at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to greet Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva, along with Russian dissidents, who were set free as part of the deal. 

Biden later boarded the plane that had brought the prisoners to Maryland, setting off a chorus of claims questioning the president’s movements. 

"This is BEYOND bizarre … even for Joe Biden!" said one Instagram post from Sebastian Gorka, a former deputy assistant to President Donald Trump. "The Old Man walks onto an empty airplane for no reason and just disappears for a few minutes! Talk about ‘weird.’"

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Statements from the White House, journalists who were there, and video footage explain what Biden was doing. 

Biden representatives didn’t immediately respond to PolitiFact’s questions about the claim.Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates posted Aug. 2 on X that "@POTUS was personally thanking the flight crew who brought these brave individuals home to their families."

Andrew Feinberg, who was the White House pool reporter that night, told Mediaite, "It was obvious to me that POTUS was boarding to speak to the people who had helped bring these three Americans home — the pilots and seven other passengers plus whoever took the photo — because they had remained on board while the three former prisoners enjoyed their first moments back on U.S. soil with their loved ones." 

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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."

Biden’s @POTUS account posted the photo Feinberg referred to Aug. 1 on X. It shows Gershkovich, Whelan and Kurmasheva with seven others aboard a plane. 

Another image, which photographer Brendan Smialowski took for Agence France-Presse, shows Biden boarding the plane. The photo caption on Getty Images’ website says, "Biden steps onto the plane to talk to the pilot who flew the former prisoners held by Russia to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on August 1." 

As fact-checking website Snopes reported, a Black Star Network livestream of Biden and Harris greeting the Americans shows someone on the plane after Biden disembarks again. (That happens around the 45:50 mark.) 

We rate claims that Biden boarded an empty plane for no reason False.