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Fact check: No basis for claims that President Joe Biden’s inauguration was faked

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The claim: President Joe Biden wasn’t legally inaugurated

On Jan. 20, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th’s president of the United States. As many Americans celebrated, QAnon conspiracy theorists faced disappointment. The prediction that Donald Trump would use his presidency to reveal a cabal of “deep state” pedophiles had proved false.

Since then, conspiracy theorists have searched for signs that the QAnon conspiracy theory could still ring true. Believers are promoting several false claims that the inauguration ceremony was prerecorded and illegitimate.

Conspiracy theorists, like Chris Geo and Gage Nelson, are using their online following to push theories that Biden’s inauguration was fake. Believers argue Trump will prove Biden’s presidency to be illegitimate in a “great awakening” on March 4.

More: What is QAnon?

Geo is a far-right conspiracy theorist with a YouTube channel called Beyond The Veil. It has 6,000 followers.

More:Fact check: Viral letter to Joe Biden is misattributed to rocker Ted Nugent

Geo dismissed the election results as a “successful coup” and promoted false claims that Trump had actually won the election, referencing the inauguration’s low turnout as evidence the Trump was the more popular candidate. USA TODAY has previously rated both of these claims false.

“I don’t want to be that conspiracy theory guy going, ‘Hey, this is gonna happen on this day. That is gonna happen on that day’ and then it does happen, but then again, I don’t want to be that blind person that sees all these anomalies and doesn’t at least say something about it,” said Geo.

In Geo’s responses to USA TODAY he called the situation a “testament to how the public has lost faith in mainstream media” and urged his viewers to draw their own conclusions from the information he presented. 

Nelson hosts a far-right, QAnon-related podcast called America Divided, which has nearly 24,000 followers on Facebook.

In a statement, Nelson told USA TODAY he stood by “everything that (he) said in the video and pray(s) to God that it’s true!”

“Many patriots including myself, believe that something just wasn’t right about the ‘Biden Inauguration’,” he wrote. “Very prominent people in the conservative movement, for example, Lin Wood, Mike Lindell, and Sidney Powell believe that something more is going on here.”

More:Fact check: Josh Hawley ‘Spineless Traitor’ book cover is satire

Coverage and witnesses prove inauguration was live

Biden’s inauguration was live and legal. Americans tuned in and watched the president and Vice President Kamala Harris take office. Inauguration Day festivities were broadcast and streamed from many outlets, including ABC, CNBC, Fox News, PBS, CNN, C-SPAN and Biden’s Inaugural Committee website among others.

President Joe Biden waves as he prepares to deliver his inaugural address.

While this year’s inauguration crowd was smaller than traditional inaugurations, there were still many witnesses. Lawmakers, former presidents, service members, performers and members of the press were all present at the ceremony. That included a number of USA TODAY reporters and photographers.

Geo’s evidence proves false

In a video posted to Facebook on Jan. 21, Geo described “inconsistencies and anomalies” that he said raised questions about the authenticity of Biden’s inauguration. This list included claims that the weather in Washington that day did not match the weather in inaugurations videos, that Biden replaced an Oval Office painting of President Andrew Jackson with a bust of Cesar Chavez and that YouTube removed the inauguration video from the official White House channel to remove dislikes. All of these claims are false.

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Geo also claimed that Trump’s Jan. 6 video message to rioters and his Jan. 20 goodbye speech could have been deep fakes and that a shorter body-double replaced Hilary Clinton at the inauguration. He provided no evidence for either of these claims.

False: Weather in inauguration video didn’t match local D.C. weather

Video of the inauguration shows the weather was sunny and guests were dressed for the cold. When Biden walked out on to the Capitol steps, it was lightly snowing.

Weather archives show this was consistent with the cold and partially cloudy climate the capital experienced that day. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders sits in the bleachers on Capitol Hill before Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th U.S. president on Jan. 20, 2021 in Washington, D.C.

False: Biden replaced Andrew Jackson portrait with Cesar Chavez bust

Biden did remove a controversial painting of President Andrew Jackson, but he did not replace it with a bust of Cesar Chavez. Biden replaced the painting with a portrait of Benjamin Franklin. Biden’s team placed a bust of Chavez, the Mexican-American civil rights activist and labor leader, behind the president’s desk.

False: White House removed dislikes from YouTube video of the inauguration

The White House official YouTube channel posted a video of the inauguration that is still up. There is no evidence the video was ever taken down to remove dislikes. As of Jan. 27, it had more than 71,000 dislikes, 14,000 likes and nearly a million views.

Archived web pages of the posted video show no record the video was ever removed from the channel.

False: Harris was not sworn in on a Bible

Geo also referenced claims that Harris didn’t take the oath of office on a Bible, claiming the leather-bound book she placed her hand on “could be anything. Who knows what that book is?”

USA TODAY fact-checked that claim and found Harris was placing her hand on two Bibles.

Kamala Harris is sworn in as vice president by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, as her husband Doug Emhoff holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021

Nelson’s evidence proves false

In his video for the “America Divided Podcast,” Nelson speculated that the inauguration was “one giant Hollywood movie,” emphasizing baseless claims as evidence. 

He referenced social media posts by Lin Wood, a pro-Trump lawyer known for his online perpetuation of QAnon dogma. 

More:Fact check: Facebook configuration change caused users to be logged out

Nelson floated several false claims that he said supported the larger theory that the ceremony was prerecorded, including that the ceremony went smoothly without a rehearsal, that guests visible in some frames were not in others and that Tom Hanks possibly hosted the “Celebrating America” concert from a green screen.

False: Biden’s inauguration went smoothly with no rehearsal

The claim that Biden’s inaugural committee did not have a rehearsal is false. Although the Jan. 18 rehearsal was briefly locked down and evacuated due to a fire at a nearby encampment of homeless people, the rehearsal continued after the interruption. 

False: Guests behind Biden disappear between frames

The guests Nelson highlights as a disappearing and reappearing anomaly are not as he claims. Those guests are Biden’s granddaughters Naomi and Natalie Biden and Secret Service agent David Cho. The Biden granddaughters and Cho stood behind Biden while he took the oath of office and did not move. They were not visible at certain points due to varied camera angles.

Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday as their children Ashley and Hunter watch.

False: Tom Hanks filmed ‘Celebrating America’ concert in front of green screen

There is no evidence the “Celebrating America” concert was filmed in front of a green screen rather than at the Lincoln Memorial. The National Parks Service closed the National Mall “in response to credible threats to visitors and park resources” during the “set up and execution of inaugural events.”

Tom Hanks hosts Joe Biden's "Celebrating America" inauguration celebration on Jan. 21, 2021.

Footage and images of the events and performances show Hanks, as well as performers, Biden and Harris, from multiple angles in and around the memorial. There is no evidence to suggest any of the performances set at the Lincoln Memorial were filmed in front of a green screen.

False: National Guard members refused to accept Biden as commander-in-chief

Nelson also referenced a video of National Guard members turning away from Biden’s motorcade as evidence that the military knows Biden is not the real commander-in-chief.

USA TODAY has previously debunked this video and found that it depicted members protecting Biden’s motorcade, not snubbing his presidency.

Jan 20, 2021; Washington, DC, USA; The National Guard is stationed at Lincoln Park as security tightens around the Nation's Capitol during the 2021 Presidential Inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the U.S. Capitol.

False evidence both Geo and Nelson shared

Both Geo and Nelson mention several other false claims as evidence. USA TODAY has also found none of these claims to be true.

More:Fact check: ‘The Simpsons’ similarities to Kamala Harris at inauguration are a coincidence

False: Sources received inauguration video hours before it took place

Both men referenced claims that sources received video of the inauguration before it occurred. Nelson shared a clip of a Jan. 21 YouTube video with QAnon conspiracy theorists Simon Parkes and Charlie Ward. In the video, Ward claims he received the inauguration footage 10 hours before it took place.

Ward did not offer any proof that he ever received that video. Geo offered no source.

More:Fact check: Meme with images of Biden, Trump inaugurations draws false comparison

False: Biden was inaugurated earlier than previous presidents

They also referenced claims that the inauguration happened earlier than traditionally planned, which the Constitution specifies as noon on Jan. 20.

Biden was sworn in by 11:49 a.m. EST, just minutes ahead of the scheduled time. 

Similarly, at Trump’s 2017 inauguration, he was scheduled to be sworn in “around noon,” showing the oath of office’s timing is not followed to the minute. 

Geo added that he could not see Biden take the oath of office on camera even after reviewing parts of the footage he might have missed. Biden did take the oath of office several minutes before noon. It was widely documented on television networks covering the ceremony.

False: A Chinese Communist Party official was behind Biden as he took the oath of office 

Both Nelson and Geo pointed to images of a man standing behind Biden during the ceremony. They incorrectly assumed him to be Chinese and label him a Communist.

The man is Secret Service agent David Cho, a Korean American leading Biden’s security detail. Cho was second-in-command during Trump’s administration. 

More:Fact check: Meme of fake email perpetuates conspiracy theory

False: Biden’s Oval Office is movie set 

They both claim there are irregularities within the Oval Office, where Biden was photographed on Inauguration Day. Nelson goes as far as to argue the Oval Office pictured in Biden’s photos might be a movie set owned by Castle Rock Entertainment. 

There is no evidence to suggest Biden was photographed from a set rather than the real Oval Office.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden wave as they arrive at the North Portico of the White House, Jan. 20, 2021.

The president made a very public entrance into the White House Jan. 20, as is customary, and posed for photos at the Resolute Desk soon after. Members of the media photographed Biden as he signed a series of executive orders from the desk. 

President Joe Biden signs his first executive orders at the Resolute Desk just hours after his inauguration in the newly redecorated Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 20, 2021, in Washington.

Nelson pointed to a car, visible outside the window, to speculate that a car would likely not be parked on the grass of the White House lawn. This is incorrect. The Oval Office is in the West Wing of the White House and overlooks the South Lawn and its circular driveway. A vehicle could have been parked there.

Geo speculated that Time magazine had photoshopped Biden into the Oval Office for its Feb. 1 cover image. Time’s cover is not a photo, but an illustration of Biden standing in the Oval Office by artist Tim O’Brien.

Expert says conspiracy theories can mobilize dangerous actors

Karen Douglas, a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent who researches conspiracy theories, told USA TODAY that false theories like this emerge from uncertainty and confusion. 

“This is likely for some citizens who do not understand the outcome of the election and the conspiracy theory allows them to believe that it was in some way flawed,” she wrote in an email to USA TODAY. 

Protesters attack the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Douglas stressed that conspiracy theories “can fuel existing conflicts” and in extreme cases motivate dangerous political action. She cited the Jan. 6 instance where a mob of Trump supporters breached the Capitol building in a deadly riot as a prime example of the dangers such theories could pose. 

Our rating: False

USA TODAY rates the claim that President Joe Biden’s inauguration was fake and illegitimate as FALSE because it is not supported by our research. None of the evidence for the claim offered by online conspiracy theorists proved true or supports the claim. Biden was inaugurated on Jan. 20 in an official ceremony that was well-documented.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. 

*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from USA TODAY can be found here ***

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