Claim: Image shows headline of Atlantic article praising Biden for having the courage to shrink the economy
The Commerce Department reported in July that the economy had contracted for a second straight quarter, adding to fears of a recession. President Joe Biden rejected that explanation and took steps to strengthen the economy.
Nonetheless, a July 30th Facebook post helped spread the false notion that Biden intentionally hurt the economy and wanted to see it shrink. Shows a fabricated headline image of a non-existent article by This post has been shared by him over 100 times in his 4 days.
The headline of the alleged article reads, “Biden’s Quiet Courage in a Negative Growth Economy.”
The supposed subtitle is written as:
However, a spokesperson for The Atlantic told USA TODAY that the headlines in the article and images were a hoax.
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USA TODAY has reached out to the user who shared this allegation for comment.
Atlantic headlines aren’t real
Atlantic spokesperson Anna Broth said the images in the social media posts did not depict the actual headlines and that Atlantic never wrote such articles.
“I have reported this to be a counterfeit and trademark infringement,” Bross told USA TODAY in an email.
This article was not published on the Atlantic website and is not published in The Atlantic. Atlantic Twitter account.
In July 2021, The Atlantic published an article headlined “The Quiet Courage of Bob Moses,” but the article had nothing to do with Biden or the economy.
The image shows Tim Nichols as the author of the story, but Bros said there is no author by that name at The Atlantic. I didn’t write
Our Rating: Changed
Based on our research, we rate ALTERED an image that claims to show Atlantic published an article praising Biden for having the courage to shrink the economy. Atlantic spokesperson said the article and headlines were not authentic.
Fact-check sources:
- The Atlantic, accessed 2 August, home page
- The Atlantic, Accessed August 2nd twitter profile
- The Atlantic, accessed August 2, by Tom Nichols
- The Atlantic, July 28, 2021 The Quiet Courage of Bob Moses
- USA TODAY, July 28, Biden rejects recession label, declaring country ‘on the right track’ despite shrinking economy
- NPR, July 28, The US economy posted negative growth in the second quarter. Is it in recession?
- Associated Press, 28 July, U.S. economy shrinks in second quarter, recession fears rise
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, August 3, Gross Domestic Product
- Anna Bross, August 2nd, email exchange with USA TODAY
- USA TODAY, 28 July, economy contracted 0.9%, second consecutive contraction, growing fears of recession
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