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Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke July 19, 2023

No news of a snooze: President Biden didn’t nod off during meeting with Israel’s president

If Your Time is short

  • This video shows President Joe Biden looking at a paper in his lap as he speaks, not falling asleep.

President Joe Biden hosted Israeli President Isaac Herzog on July 18 at the White House, and Biden didn’t fall asleep during his televised meeting with the world leader. 

It’s worth mentioning because some social media users are claiming otherwise.

"WAKE UP, JOE," reads one Instagram post featuring a clip of the meeting in which Biden’s head is bowed as he sits across from Herzog. "What kind of world leader falls asleep while in a meeting?"

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Featured Fact-check

A longer video of the meeting shows what isn’t clear in the clip: Biden appears to be looking at a piece of paper in his lap.

He stumbles over his words at one point, but he doesn’t fall asleep. 

We rate that claim False.

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More by Ciara O'Rourke

No news of a snooze: President Biden didn’t nod off during meeting with Israel’s president

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