A State of the Union intermission? False claim circulates ahead of address | Fact check
The claim: The White House announced two intermissions for Biden’s State of the Union address
A March 7 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) claims an adjustment was made to the schedule for President Joe Biden’s March 7 State of the Union address.
“White House announces there will be 2 ‘intermissions’ during tonight’s State of the Union,” reads the post, which is a screenshot of a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, from former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
The Instagram post's caption reads, "So the docs said he doesn’t need a cognitive exam and he’s not too old… but they will need to break this state of the union up."
The Instagram post received more than 1,500 likes in a few hours. Other versions of the claim spread on Facebook and X.
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Our rating: False
The White House has made no such announcement, and Spicer said the post was a joke.
Claim is a joke based on concerns over Biden's stamina
The State of the Union is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. ET on March 7. But there are no White House news releases or reports from legitimate news outlets about intermissions during the speech.
Spicer, once the spokesperson for former President Donald Trump, said the claim was a joke in a subsequent X post. However, the Instagram post and other iterations of the claim make no mention of it being a joke and appear to take it seriously. Comments show many social media users taking it seriously as well.
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Biden did not leave the podium for an intermission in his previous State of the Union addresses, both of which lasted more than an hour.
The claim is a reference to concerns about Biden’s stamina given his status as the oldest sitting president in U.S. history. Biden has pushed back on suggestions he is unfit for office and said what matters most is "how old your ideas are."
USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Snopes also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
Sean Spicer, March 7, X post
The White House, accessed March 7, Statements and Releases
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, State of the Union address won't have an intermission | Fact check