Fact Check: Did US President Biden step on cat while giving speech?

By Tanujit Das:

A video of United States President Joe Biden that’s been widely shared on social media allegedly shows him stepping on a cat while delivering a speech. In the video, Biden, while speaking, was interrupted by the sound of a cat screaming. While the cat did not appear in the frame, Biden could be seen looking down and saying, “Whoops, stepping on him. But it’s black. Anyway—.” The archived version of the tweet can be seen here.

India Today found that the video was edited. Biden did not step on a cat. Rather, he stumbled on a floor wire.

Our Probe

A reverse search of keyframes from the viral video led us to a news report in the New York Post dated November 6, 2022. Per the report, Biden joined New York Governor Kathy Hochul in Yonkers, in the run-up to New York’s 2022 gubernatorial election, where he nearly fell after stumbling on stage during the speech.

Forbes shared a longer speech of Biden on its official YouTube channel on November 7, 2022. The viral clip appeared around the eight-minute mark. In it, while delivering a speech, Biden stumbled, looked down, and said, "It’s black. Anyway". Then, he paused for a few seconds and started speaking again. In this video, however, there was no sound of a cat screaming.

NBC News affiliate WGRZ-TV also shared the same video on its official YouTube channel the same day.

On November 6, 2022, the White House released the official transcript of that event. Per the report, President Biden stumbled on a floor wire.

The same was reported by American news network C-SPAN. We also found that Lead Stories debunked the viral claim on April 5, 2023.

Thus, it is evident that Biden did not step on a cat while delivering a speech.