Quick Take
A popular image is made to appear as if President Joe Biden posted a racist tweet discussing Coca-Cola and “cultural reappropriation.” There is no record of Biden ever posting that tweet.
Full Story
An image circulating on social media is made to look like a tweet from President Joe Biden discussing Coca-Cola and diversity training. But it’s bunk: There is no record of Biden ever tweeting the message in question.
The purported tweet, dated Feb. 21, reads: “I’m proud to see Coca-Cola educate their staff in cultural reappropriation. The disconnect is because the way white people talk leaving minorities confused. Black people communicate a certain way and me and my staff know how those kinds of people talk and it’s time white people learn to do the same #justforthetasteofit #dietcoke.”
But as we said, there is nothing to suggest Biden posted that tweet.
On Feb. 21, we found, his verified @JoeBiden Twitter account — the one used in the bogus screenshot — didn’t post any direct tweets that day. Instead, it only retweeted two posts from the official presidential account, @POTUS, about the late Rep. John Lewis and COVID-19. We also checked a log of deleted tweets from Biden maintained by ProPublica and didn’t find the supposed Coca-Cola tweet there, either.
The bogus screenshot was spread amid allegations that Coca-Cola’s diversity training included a class that contained a suggestion to “try to be less white” — a claim that our fact-checking colleagues at Snopes explored further. The company has issued a statement saying the course in question was not part of its diversity and equity curriculum.
“The training includes access to the LinkedIn Learning platform on a variety of topics, including on diversity, equity and inclusion,” the statement said. “The video in question was accessible on the LinkedIn Learning platform but was not part of the company’s curriculum.”
Users spreading the phony Biden tweet referring to that issue paired it with captions suggesting the tweet was authentic.
One Facebook post was captioned, “So when white people talk blacks can’t comprehend? Interesting…” Text with another post reads, “He sounds like he’s racist.”
Images of made-up tweets are a common form of misinformation. For example, we’ve checked fake tweets that were attributed to Sen. Ted Cruz, former President Donald Trump and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here.
Sources
Biden, Joe (@JoeBiden). Twitter. Accessed 25 Feb 2021.
“Deleted Tweets From Joe Biden, D-D.C.” PolitiWoops. ProPublica. Accessed 25 Feb 2021.
Fichera, Angelo. “Viral Posts Attribute Fake Tweet to Cruz.” FactCheck.org. 19 Feb 2021.
Fichera, Angelo. “Posts Spread Fake Trump Memorial Day Tweet.” FactCheck.org. 27 May 2020.
Hale Spencer, Saranac. “Fake AOC Tweet Politicizes COVID-19 Business Restrictions.” FactCheck.org. 24 Jun 2020.
MacGuill, Dan. “Did Coca-Cola’s Diversity Training Tell Workers ‘Try To Be Less White’?” Snopes. Updated 23 Feb 2021.
“Statement on The Coca-Cola Company Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Training.” Press release, the Coca-Cola Company. 20 Feb 2021.