New York Times claims Biden’s State of the Union had ‘no outright falsehoods’

Joe Biden delivered a State of the Union address Wednesday which earned him boos from both sides of the aisle and has since been described as “nonsensical” “random yelling” by a “slightly deranged geriatric”. The speech was riddled with claims labeled false even by some in the mainstream media and at one point became so untenable that Biden was shouted down during his speech.

Others, however, considered it the best State of the Union address in history.

“Hi, Professional Cynic Here, the President just gave the best State of the Union speech I’ve ever heard,” gushed MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann.

The New York Times, while unable to dignifiedly praise the speech, tried to claim that at least none of Biden’s claims were false.

“Mr. Biden’s speech contained no outright falsehoods, but at times omitted crucial context or exaggerated the facts. Here’s a fact check,” wrote the New York Times before going on to explain why Biden’s claims were, in fact, untrue.

In one instance, Biden tried to claim credit for creating 12 million jobs:

I stand here tonight, after we’ve created, with the help of many people in this room, 12 million new jobs — more jobs created in two years than any president has created in four years.

The Times noted that not only are many of those jobs simply returning from the pandemic and thus not “new” or “created,” but Biden is actually lagging behind former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.

Biden also claimed that he solved the issue of fast food workers being unable to find jobs at competitors because they were bound by non-compete clauses — a claim that elicited jeers from the audience because that problem never existed.

Thirty million workers had to sign non-compete agreements for the jobs they take. Thirty million. So, a cashier at a burger place can't walk across town and take the same job at another burger place and make a few bucks more. They just changed it because we exposed it.

After being treated to loud hoots from the Republicans, Biden told them, “That was part of the deal, look it up.”

But even CNN operatives were unable to defend Biden’s claim and admitted that fast food employees are not enjoined to sign non-compete agreements.

At another point, Biden was shouted down and booed by Republicans when he tried claiming that Republicans want to place term limits on Medicare and Social Security.

Some of my Republican friends want to take the economy hostage, which I get it, unless I agree with their economic plans. All of you know should know what those plans are.

Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security sunset. I'm not saying it's a majority.

In fact, it was Biden himself who once proposed legislation in 1975 that would sunset all federal programs, clarifying that Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veteran’s benefits were all included in the sunset bill.

Biden’s claim invited thunderous boos and jeers along with shouts of “liar!” by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and others.

Last year, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) also introduced a bill to sunset all federal programs, though it was widely rejected by Republicans.

Biden then chided oil companies for not drilling enough oil domestically, even though it was Biden himself who tied their hands from doing so. He prompted laughs when he claimed the companies “invested too little of that profit to increase domestic production and keep gas prices down.” 

“Instead, they used those record profits to buy back their own stock, rewarding their CEOs and shareholders,” he added. “Corporations ought to do the right thing.”

When he then assured oil companies that “we’re going to need oil and gas for a while”, Democrats did the booing.

Other claims made by Biden included the 20,000 pounds of fentanyl seized over the last year at the border, failing to mention that the number represents only 5%-10% of what makes it across.

Perhaps most surprisingly, Biden tried waxing bravado about China, saying he has stopped China from “increasing its power”. The claim came just days after a large Chinese spy balloon which the government believed to contain explosives violated American airspace and paralyzed the United States military as it lazily traversed the country for a week before being shot down over the ocean.

“But make no mistake: as we made clear last week, if China’s threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did,” said Biden.