Social media posts are claiming recent reporting revealed President Joe Biden had advance knowledge that the Titan submersible had imploded and purposefully withheld the news for days. But this is unfounded.
“The Wall Street Journal … is even reporting on this. Joe Biden has known since Sunday … it’s Thursday,” a person in a June 22 TikTok said. “He’s known since Sunday that the Titan imploded on itself. I wonder why he’s kept that a secret. Oh I know, because (of) Hunter (Biden).”
A June 22 tweet from conservative activist Jack Posobiec read, “The WSJ is reporting the U.S. Navy detected the Titan implosion on Sunday but Biden held the news until today’s whistleblower testimony on Hunter. The entire thing was a distraction op.”
TikTok identified the video as part of its efforts to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. (Read more about PolitiFact’s partnership with TikTok.)
The Wall Street Journal article the social media posts refer to does not mention Biden at all. The June 22 report includes information from U.S. Navy officials regarding the Titan implosion.
Shortly after the Titan began its June 18 voyage to see the Titanic shipwreck in the North Atlantic ocean, the submersible lost contact with its surface ship. The U.S. Coast Guard immediately began coordinating a search and rescue mission with the U.S. Navy and Canadian authorities.
Officials told The Wall Street Journal that top secret military equipment designed to spot enemy submarines first heard what the Navy suspected was the Titan’s implosion June 18 soon after communication with the submersible was lost.
At the time, the Navy couldn’t definitely determine that the sound had come from the Titan, so the search and rescue mission continued, officials said.
On June 22, debris from the submersible was found about 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic wreckage, the Coast Guard said. The same day, officials announced that the five men aboard the Titan were dead.
The Wall Street Journal article did not address whether the president knew about the implosion before Navy officials publicly confirmed its occurrence June 22.
We rate the claim that the Wall Street Journal reported that Biden knew June 18 that the Titan had imploded but withheld the news until June 22 False.
Truth-o-meter Ruling
IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT
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A June 22 Wall Street Journal article about the U.S. Navy hearing on June 18 what it believed was the implosion of the Titan submersible did not mention President Joe Biden.
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The article also did not address whether Biden had been informed about the implosion before U.S. Navy officials publicly confirmed its occurrence June 22.
Statement
Context
social media postsSpeaker/Target
Statement Date
Our Sources
TikTok (archived version), June 22, 2023
Tweet (archived version), June 22, 2023
The Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Navy Heard What It Believed Was Titan Implosion Days Ago," June 22, 2023
The New York Times, "What to Know About the Titan Submersible," June 23, 2023
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