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Sean Hannity
stated on April 18, 2024 in a video:
President Joe Biden was “ignored by virtually everyone” at a Pittsburgh-area gas station.
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- Sean Hannity
President Joe Biden is greeted April 17, 2024, after walking into a Sheetz after stopping en route to Pittsburgh International Airport. (AP)
By Kwasi Gyamfi AsieduApril 25, 2024
If Your Time is short
- Videos of the presidential visit show Joe Biden hugging, shaking hands and posing for photos with customers and workers at Sheetz, a Pittsburgh-area gas station and convenience store.
See the sources for this fact-check
How was President Joe Biden received when he stopped at a gas station in Pennsylvania? Fox News host Sean Hannity said the president got the cold shoulder.
"Biden tries copying Trump by visiting a gas station in PA - instead he's ignored by virtually everyone there," Hannity said in an April 18 Facebook post. The post included a video of Biden at Sheetz, a gas station and convenience store chain.
The Facebook video 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.)
Biden’s public calendar April 17 shows he gave a speech at the United Steelworkers’ headquarters in Pittsburgh. On his return to the airport, he made an unscheduled stop at a Sheetz branch in Moon Township, a Pittsburgh suburb.
Biden stopped at Sheetz with Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, where they picked up sandwiches for construction workers at the Pittsburgh International Airport.
Videos of the gas station stop, including the one Hannity posted, do not show the president being ignored. He is seen engaging with the people inside the store.
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In Hannity's video, the president made playful faces with some children and then walked to a counter where he met Sheetz workers. Biden chatted with the staff members, who had grouped to see him, before going behind the counter to take photos with them — all smiling.
Another video by CBS News shows the scene before the president met the children, which is not shown in Hannity’s version. In it, Biden was hugged and greeted by a man who appeared happy about the presidential encounter and was eager to take a photo with him. Gainey took the photo on the man’s phone. The clip Hannity shared starts right after that moment. The videos do not show the president being ignored by patrons or store employees.
PolitiFact reached out to Sean Hannity for a comment butreceived noresponse.
Former president Donald Trump, days earlier, visited a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Atlanta where he ordered 30 milkshakes and some chicken for customers.
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.
We rate the claim that Biden was "ignored by virtually everyone" at a gas station Pants on Fire!
Read About Our Process
The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter
Our Sources
Facebook post, April9, 2024
CBS News, President Biden stops at Pittsburgh-area Sheetz to buy sandwiches for construction workers, April18, 2024
WTAE Pittsburgh, Biden vows to shield U.S. steel industry by blocking Japanese merger and seeking new Chinese tariffs, April17, 2024
The Associated Press, Biden vows to shield US steel industry by blocking Japanese merger and seeking new Chinese tariffs, April 17, 2024
Blue Sky News, President Visits PIT’s terminal construction site, April22, 2024
Factbase, Joe Biden - President's Public Schedule, accessed April 24, 2024
C-SPAN, Former President Trump meets with voters at an Atlanta Chick-fil-A, April 10, 2024
The Washington Times, Trump blazes a path to White House through fast-food nation, April13, 2024
National Review, Trump should only campaign at fast-food restaurants and pizza places, April10, 2024
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
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