Fact Check: Unfounded Rumor Says Biden Had Undisclosed Medical Emergency in Vegas Mid-July 2024

Claim:

U.S. President Joe Biden suffered an undisclosed medical emergency while in Las Vegas in mid-July 2024.

Rating:

Unfounded ( About this rating? )

In the months leading up to the November 2024 U.S. presidential election, an online rumor claimed U.S. President Joe Biden suffered a serious, undisclosed medical emergency during his stay in Las Vegas between July 15 and 17.

The timeline for this rumor began on July 17, when White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced a COVID-19 diagnosis for Biden — the reason given for why the White House cut his trip short and canceled one of his planned speeches in Las Vegas.

Four days later, on July 21, Biden announced he would drop his reelection bid — a U.S. presidential decision not seen in decades . He also endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic Party nomination for president. On the same day, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, the physician to the president, wrote in a letter of Biden's COVID-19 recovery progress: "President Biden completed his eighth dose of PAXLOVID this morning. His symptoms have improved significantly."

The rumor about Biden suffering an undisclosed medical emergency originated the following day — July 22 — on the X account for Charlie Kirk, the founder and president of conservative advocacy group Turning Point USA. Kirk's post featured mentions of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Secret Service, University Medical Center Southern Nevada and the White House.

By email we contacted Kirk and all four of the aforementioned organizations or institutions named in the post but did not receive any details in response within several hours. The Secret Service simply responded, "We refer you to White House communication for this query."

As of this writing, we located no further information helping to confirm or debunk the rumor claiming Biden suffered an undisclosed medical emergency during his travel in Las Vegas. With this criteria in mind, we have rated this fact-check claim for the time being as "Unfounded." We define the "Unfounded" rating as follows: "This rating applies to a claim that we have investigated but found no demonstrable evidence to support it. Such claims typically originate as hearsay, speculation or groundless rumor."

A Closer Look at Rumor

On July 22, Kirk posted the rumor about what he called "a weird lead" from "a source close to Las Vegas Metro." According to Kirk, his source — whom he did not name — claimed Biden suffered a medical emergency while in Las Vegas.

Kirk wrote that the source said the Secret Service informed Las Vegas Metropolitan Police of "an emergency situation involving Joe Biden," asking police "to close necessary streets so that POTUS could be transported immediately to University Medical, which they began to do in earnest." A "stand down order" purportedly followed. Then, Kirk posited, "Apparently the rumor mill in the police department was that Joe Biden was dying or possibly already dead."

The full post read as follows:

Got a weird lead on a story that people should look into. I got a call from a source close to Las Vegas Metro. The official story was that Joe Biden's trip was cut short last week due to COVID. However, according to this source, US Secret Service informed LV Metro that there was an emergency situation involving Joe Biden and to close necessary streets so that POTUS could be transported immediately to University Medical, which they began to do in earnest. Then, mysteriously, there was a stand down order and the USSS informed local Vegas PD that they were going to "medivac" POTUS to Johns Hopkins, which they presumed meant fly him back east ASAP. Apparently the rumor mill in the police department was that Joe Biden was dying or possibly already dead.

I didn't think too much about this lead, seemed too wild to be true, but given that Joe Biden has been out of public sight for days and dropped out of the race via an X post, and his brother James indicated health was a factor, I'm beginning to grow more curious if COVID or something else has been more serious than reported. If anyone with LV Metro has information, please email Freedom@CharlieKirk.com. I want to hear if there is more to the official story than what they're telling us.

Within hours, Kirk's post received more than 7 million views. Students for Trump co-founder Ryan Fournier also shared Kirk's rumor, asking in all capital letters, "WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS COUNTRY!?"

One question we asked of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police central to this rumor was whether it truly did receive any such orders from the Secret Service. We also asked Kirk if he could share the nature of the association between his source and the police department.

We will update this story if any further details come to light.

Separate July 5 Rumor About Air Force One

One user who responded to Kirk's post referenced a previous rumor unrelated to the claim about Las Vegas originally posted by conservative commentator Laura Loomer. The user replied, "Laura Loomer did a detailed story last week about a medical emergency on Air Force One. Wonder if it's connected?" Kirk then asked for a link to the post , which dated to July 5 — 10 days before Biden's arrival in Las Vegas. Kirk later posited about Biden, "Her report was from July 5. This report is from July 17. Could be that he's been having multiple health scares or 'emergencies.'"

On July 18, Reuters reported it found no evidence Biden experienced a medical emergency on Air Force One on July 5. Andrew Bates, White House senior deputy press secretary, also posted on X the rumor was "100% false."

Sources:

@AndrewJBates46. "100% False." X , 5 July 2024, https://x.com/AndrewJBates46/status/1809386981815726130. Breuninger, Kevin. "Biden Tests Positive for Covid, Cancels Speech in Las Vegas." CNBC , 17 July 2024, https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/17/president-biden-tests-positive-for-covid-unidosus-leader-says.html.

Burack, Emily. "The Last Time an American Political Party Declined to Nominate Their Incumbent President for Reelection." Town & Country , 21 July 2024, https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/politics/a61637247/incumbent-presidents-not-nominated-history-explained/ .

"Fact Check: No Evidence Biden Had Medical Emergency Aboard Air Force One on July 5." Reuters , 18 July 2024, https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/no-evidence-biden-had-medical-emergency-aboard-air-force-one-july-5-2024-07-18/. "Letter from Dr. Kevin O'Connor." The White House , 21 July 2024, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/07/21/letter-from-dr-kevin-oconnor-5/. Madhani, Aamer. "President Joe Biden Tests Positive for COVID-19 While Campaigning in Las Vegas, Has 'Mild Symptoms.'" The Associated Press , 17 July 2024, https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-las-vegas-ff29bb071f18b993d20dedccbe2c8fbf. "President Joe Biden to Travel to Texas and Nevada." The White House , 7 July 2024, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/07/07/president-joe-biden-to-travel-to-texas-and-nevada/. "Statement from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre." The White House , 17 July 2024, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/07/17/statement-from-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-3/.