Sean Hannity fact-checked over false claim that Biden was 'ignored' by 'everyone' during gas station visit

By 
 April 27, 2024

President Joe Biden was campaigning in Pennsylvania last week and made a brief stop at a gas station convenience store that was well-documented by multiple media outlets.

Fox News host Sean Hannity asserted on social media that Biden was "ignored by virtually everyone there," but that charge was instantly debunked by the video that Hannity posted as well as others that captured other moments of the visit not seen in Hannity's video, PolitiFact reported.

It is unclear why Hannity made the easily disproven claim and he did not respond to a request for comment from the fact-checking organization.

Hannity says Biden was "ignored by virtually everyone" during gas station visit

On the morning of April 18, Hannity posted a video on Facebook of President Biden visiting a Sheetz store in Pittsburgh and wrote, "Biden tries copying Trump by visiting a gas station in PA -- instead he's ignored by virtually everyone there."

Hannity's caption referenced an incident from about a week earlier when former President Donald Trump visited a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, while in town for a campaign fundraiser, where he purchased dozens of milkshakes and sandwiches for customers while chatting with them and reporters and some of the workers.

Hannity's claim disproven by own posted video

Hannity's claim about President Biden being ignored by everybody at the gas station was rated "Pants on Fire" false by PolitiFact for its blatant dishonesty, as even the video that he posted disproved the caption's fraudulent caption.

On April 17, Biden delivered a speech to steelworkers union members in Pittsburgh and then made a stop at a Sheetz store afterward while accompanied by his campaign team and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey.

It was there that they picked up a large order of sandwiches and other snacks for construction workers on a project at the nearby Pittsburgh International Airport.

In the video shared by Hannity, Biden can be seen speaking briefly with a couple of young girls as well as other customers before he approached the counter, where he then spoke with several store employees and even posed for a few pictures with them while the order for the construction workers was being boxed up for them.

Hannity's claim rated "Pants on Fire" false

PolitiFact also pointed to a report from local CBS affiliate KDKA that included an even longer video of the Sheetz visit and further debunked the false claim by Hannity.

The report noted that Biden paid for the food that had been ordered for the construction workers and revealed that Sheetz confirmed that the campaign had placed the large order online before the president and mayor arrived to pick it up.

That video clip from the local media outlet showed Biden being greeted and hugged by a customer, who seemed happy to meet and take a picture with the president, in a moment that occurred right before the start of the video that Hannity posted.

In the end, PolitiFact concluded, "When it comes to Biden’s Sheetz stop, Hannity’s clip does not corroborate his own claim about Biden being ignored, and footage from other media outlets shows the president was welcomed by and interacted with staff and customers."

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