Jill Biden is studying Spanish. But there’s no reason to believe she would force everyone to do so if her husband is elected president, as a Facebook post claims.
The Aug. 26 post said: “Dr. Jill Biden: ‘All Americans Will Be Required to Learn Spanish When We Win.” The post states that the information came from the New York Post, but included no link to another article.
This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook).
A separate website intended to trick viewers into thinking it is the New York Post made a similar claim that Jill Biden, an English teacher, called for requiring people to learn Spanish. But we found no actual New York Post article that backs up the claim.
Some posts show images of Biden giving her Aug. 18 speech at the Democratic National Convention or her June 30 interview with “The View,” but in neither one did she suggest mandatory Spanish under a Joe Biden presidency.
The Washington Post reported that Jill Biden is studying Spanish on Babbel, a mobile app for learning languages.
The vast majority of people in the U.S. speak only English at home according to the census data, while about 21.5% speak another language, with Spanish being the most common.
About 13% speak Spanish at home.
We found no evidence that Jill Biden said that if her husband wins everyone will have to learn Spanish in the U.S. We find this claim falso y ridículo, so we rate it Pants on Fire!
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Jill Biden is studying Spanish on the Babbel app. She has not called for requiring everyone to learn Spanish.
Statement
Context
a Facebook postSpeaker/Target
Statement Date
Our Sources
Facebook post, Aug. 26, 2020
Washington Post, Jill Biden is finally ready to be first lady. Can she help her husband beat Trump? Aug. 17, 2020
U.S. Census American Community Survey, Language information, 2018
Pew Research Center, Most Hispanic parents speak Spanish to their children, but this is less the case in later immigrant generations, April 2, 2018
Pew Research Center, Spanish is the most spoken non-English language in U.S. homes, even among non-Hispanics, Aug. 13, 2013
PolitiFact, 'Glee' says the Census Bureau projects the majority of Americans will use Spanish by 2030, Feb. 14, 2012
Email interview, Mark Hugo Lopez, director of global migration and demography research at Pew Research Center, Aug. 28, 2020
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