False claims that President Joe Biden suffered a July 5 medical emergency aboard Air Force One

Following President Joe Biden’s July 5 campaign stop in Wisconsin, social media posts made baseless claims about a possible medical emergency on Air Force One. 

"Joe Biden is reportedly having a medical emergency on Air Force One right now," a July 5 Instagram post sharing a screenshot of an X post from Laura Loomer, a far-right activist, said. "Press access has been removed."

(Screenshot of Instagram Post)  

This post and others like it were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Former Assistant Treasury Secretary Monica Crowley shared the claim on X, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, reposted Crowley’s post. The posts from Loomer, Crowley and Lee did not cite any sources or include any evidence, and their X posts all received community notes —  the platform’s crowdsourced approach to addressing misinformation — saying Biden walked off the plane unassisted when it landed.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said on X that the posts were "100% false." An Associated Press reporter traveling with Biden on Air Force One said the press was not denied access "at any point" during the flight and moved about the plane freely. 

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A White House pool press report confirmed that Biden landed safely in Delaware, and a video shows him exiting the plane and greeting a military officer. Although the press did not see Biden enter his Wilmington home, that is common because of the home’s distance from the street. 

Biden did cancel a planned July 7 event with the National Education Association Convention in Philadelphia. However, it was because the association's staff union went on strike and set up picket lines around the convention center.

"President Biden is a fierce supporter of unions and he won’t cross a picket line," the Biden campaign said in a statement to the Associated Press. 

We rate the claim that Biden had a "medical emergency on Air Force One" on July 5 False.