In October 2023, a video went viral on social media, purportedly proving that U.S. President Joe Biden behaved inappropriately with a minor. "She was 12, I was 30," one viral post captioned the video, citing his alleged remark at a public event.
"She was 12, I was 30" pic.twitter.com/EkCl493cpa
— illuminatibot (@iluminatibot) October 3, 2023
"I'm definitely not surprised ? he is a weirdo," one X (formerly Twitter) user commented. A post from September 2022, with the same video and caption, received a comment that read, "When a pedophile TELLS you he's a pedophile BELIEVE it! #PedoHitlerbiden."
"She was 12 and I was 30."
- Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/bmit4z9oqa
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 23, 2022
The video is authentic and was captured during a Democratic National Committee (DNC) event held in 2022. Its description on the official Joe Biden YouTube channel read:
At @NEAToday to highlight the choice voters have between building an economy that works for working families, and the Republican plan to make health care more expensive, ban abortion nationwide, and put Medicare and Social Security on the chopping block.
The moment in question starts at roughly 15:57 in the video below, as the meeting was streamed live on YouTube on Sept. 23, 2022:
Moreover, we found Biden's remark transcribed on the website of The White House, in an article titled, "Remarks by President Biden at a Democratic National Committee Event" (emphasis ours):
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I tell you what, the thing that we found out and everybody found out: There's not a lot of total climate deniers anymore after they've seen what happened this year. But guess what? We got a lot to do.
(Addressing an audience member.) You got to say hi to me. (Laughter.) We go back a long way. She was 12; I was 30. But anyway — (laughter) — this woman helped me get an awful lot done. Anyway. (Applause.)
But right now — and it's not hyperbole to suggest right now democracy itself is on the ballot as well.
Folks, I believe America is at an inflection point. And I apologize to — I'm a labor guy. I've spent a lot of time with all of you — not all of you, but with labor movements — since I got elected and my whole career. But — and I apologize if I repeat some things.
But I think we're really at an inflection point. It occurs every three, four, or five generations. It doesn't occur every election.
The transcription indicated that Biden addressed an audience member, referring to an undefined event that took place when the person was 12 and Biden was 30.
One X user indicated Biden "was talking to a woman in the audience who campaigned for his first Senate run when she was brought along by her older sister," but we have not found any proof for that claim. We have reached out to the White House to seek clarification on Biden's words. We will update this report when, or if, we receive a response.
In October 2022, PolitiFact also debunked a claim about the viral clip after some social media users claimed the in-question remark was about Jill Biden, underscoring the president is nearly 10 years older than his wife.