Conservatives Insist Biden Confusingly Boarded ‘Wrong’ Airplane — Here’s What Actually Happened

Conservative media outlets and social media users are having a field day with a clip of President Joe Biden boarding the airplane that had just brought Evan Gershkovich and others safely to US soil, suggesting the president was “confused” or didn’t know where he was.

Gershkovich was part of a multi-national prisoner swap , which also saw the release of former US Marine Paul Whelan and Prague-based radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.

Gershkovich deplaned after Whelan and stood at the base of the airplane’s stairs while Biden chatted with Whelan. He was immediately greeted by Harris, who proceeded to give the WSJ staffer a big hug. Biden walked over and shook his hand and eventually embraced Gershkovich as well.

After speaking to the media and further conversations with others present, Biden returned to the airplane which he entered while the Vice President and Secret Service officers watched.

“‘Did He Think It Was Air Force One?’ Biden Inexplicably Boards Plane Used By Freed Prisoners” is a headline used by MRC, which publishes Newsbusters — an organization that delights in calling out journalistic malfeasance, yet often fails to abide by those very standards themselves. Brittany Hughes wrote:

So is anyone gonna ask questions about this? Or is it just another “cheap fake” we’re supposed to ignore?

Because I have all the questions.

Fresh off of welcoming home Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and American veteran Paul Whelan, two American citizens who’d been held in a Russian prison, on Thursday night following a multi-national prisoner exchange, President Joe Biden appeared to wander on to the plane the former detainees had just gotten off of, leaving some people wondering if the 81-year-old thought he was getting on Air Force One.

The video has also gone viral on Twitter, an example of the mostly conservative comments read like this from conservative headline post “ Amuse ” which reads: “Joe Biden climbed back up the stairs of an airplane he wasn’t supposed to be on, as Kamala Harris and the Secret Service watched in disbelief. He clearly has no idea where he is or what he’s doing.”

Turns out the president was simply entering the plane to say hello to the many other passengers who had not yet deboarded following the exit of those released in the multinational prisoner swap with Russia.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates tells Mediaite: ““President Biden wanted to personally thank the flight crew who brought these brave individuals home to their families.”

I also reached out to Andrew Feinberg, who served as White House pool reporter at Joint Base Andrews, and he confirmed what occurred.

“If you look at the handout photo of the group that flew back to JBA from Ankara — the one taken on board the plane — it showed ten passengers,” Feinberg told Mediate. “But only three people got off the plane once it landed: Paul, Evan and Alsu.” The photo he referenced:

“I was under the wing with the press pool and it was obvious to me that POTUS was boarding to speak to the people who had helped to bring these three Americans home — the pilots and seven other passengers plus whoever took the photo — because they had remained on board while the three former prisoners enjoyed their first moments back on US soil with their loved ones,” Feinberg added.

So, no. Biden wasn’t confused nor did he get on the wrong plane has some have also claimed on social media. He was simply saying hello to the other passengers on the plane who have not yet deboarded.

If we are going to use the term “cheap fake” to describe the mischaracterization of a video clip, then, this applies here.