Fact Check

Did Mitt Romney Endorse Joe Biden?

A routine review of content labeled satire.

Published April 28, 2020

 (Wikimedia Commons)
Image Via Wikimedia Commons
Claim:
U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney endorsed 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

On April 20, 2020, the website Daily World Update published an article positing that U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah, had crossed party lines and endorsed Democratic presidential candidate and presumptive nominee Joe Biden:

Romney Endorses Joe Biden

After his unsuccessful run for President against Barack Obama, Mitt Romney hasn’t exactly acted like the Republican’s Republican. He’s voted against several pieces of GOP legislation while representing the state of Utah in the Senate, and he was the only voice of the conservative right to correctly recommend that Donald Trump be charged and prosecuted for crimes during his historic impeachment trial. Now, however, his seemingly turncoat antics may have gone too far. Like someone giving Melania Trump an American Express Gold Card at the Bunny Ranch.

Just this morning, at the Brigham Young pagoda of Utah’s Sandy Batt Fellowship Hall, the Informin’ Mormon told a gathered press corps that he would be endorsing candidate Joe Biden for the 2020 Presidential election over incumbent and fellow Republican Donald Trump.

This item was not a factual recounting of real-life events. The article originated with a website that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature, as follows:

Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site’s pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical.

For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.