Snopes, the left-wing “fact checking” website, made a concerted effort to manipulate the narrative surrounding Joe Biden wearing a construction hard hat backwards during a campaign stop. However, their attempt to defend Biden was so unsuccessful that they were forced to retract their own verdict on Saturday.
Prior to reaching Snopes, the story of Biden’s backward hard hat gained traction on social media after Minnesota’s Democratic Senator, Amy Klobuchar, shared a photo on Thursday. The photo depicted Biden standing alongside a group of construction workers during his visit to a bar in Superior, Wisconsin.
Nothing like having a beer with some great union workers and yes, that would be @JoeBiden in Superior, Wisconsin. @AFLCIO pic.twitter.com/caMGiRXjPe
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) January 25, 2024
Two hard hats are visible in the photograph. One is a blue hard hat placed on the bar top, while the other is positioned on Joe Biden’s head. The hard hat on the bar top is clearly shown with its front facing away from the camera, as there is no bill visible and the tightener knob is facing the camera. Typically, the tightener knob should be worn at the back of the head to allow the wearer to adjust the hat for a snug fit.
However, the hard hat on Joe’s head is also seen with the tightener knob facing forward and resting on his forehead, indicating that he is wearing the hat in reverse.
As soon as this was noticed, social media users swiftly criticized Biden for wearing the hat incorrectly.
Hat backwards because “he’s a man of the people”
He’s never done a hard days work has he 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/ZhbItTau70
— Frankly Frank (@CastiglioneFrnk) January 26, 2024
Snopes, however, attempted to refute the criticism directed at Biden for wearing the hat backwards in their initial post on the photo. The website, known for fact-checking, asserted that the detractors were mistaken in their claims. Furthermore, Snopes concluded that Biden was indeed not wearing the hat in a backward manner.
“The photo is genuine. And it does look, at first glance, like Biden was wearing that hard hat backwards. But after comparing it to other photos and videos of the same event, we were forced to reach the opposite conclusion: The hat on Biden’s head was facing forward, bill to the front, not backward,” they wrote in their initial post in which they gave the “wearing backwards” claim a “false” rating.
However, the site faced severe criticism as a result. Snopes received minimal backing for its assertion that Biden wore the hat correctly.
Ironically, even Snopes’s own explanation appeared to contradict its own verdict regarding Biden’s hat placement.
Snopes explained: “Do construction workers sometimes wear their hard hats backwards? Yes. But to do so, the internal suspension has to be reversed to fit correctly, which explains why, when Biden donned the hat with the brim forward, the nape strap ended up on his forehead.”
The provided explanation appears to confirm that Biden indeed wore it in reverse, despite Snopes’ attempt to deny it. The site’s explanation reveals that the tightening knob is consistently positioned at the back of the head, even if the worker has detached the suspension straps from inside the hat and reattached them, causing the small brim that typically rests in the front to be positioned at the back.
Snopes fact-check: "Biden wore a hard hat backwards" is misinformation
Who are you going to believe:
Snopes or your lying eyes? pic.twitter.com/p30Qu0uWlY— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 27, 2024
Ultimately, Snopes was compelled to reverse its stance in its endeavor to protect Joe Biden. By the evening of Saturday, the platform modified its classification from “false” to “true” and conceded that Biden had indeed worn the hat in various incorrect ways.
UPDATE: We bullied Snopes into changing their fact-check. They now admit that Joe Biden wore his hard hat backwards. https://t.co/K29Kfm4QWk pic.twitter.com/xvMgQ0e9LC
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 27, 2024