copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-21): Read President Biden's letter announcing his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race President Biden announced his decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race Sunday, ending his reelection bid and leaving open the Democratic nomination less than a month before the party's convention in August. [...] Read Mr. Biden's full letter here:
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-21): In a letter Sunday, President Biden said he is ending his reelection campaign. "I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term," Biden said in the letter. [...] Biden's letter stepping aside as presumptive Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential election
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-21): The full text of Biden’s letter on exiting the presidential election race ‘It is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down,’ the US president writes. The following is the letter from United States President Joe Biden, announcing he will no longer run for re-election in November:
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-21): President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he’s withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination. "It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President," Biden wrote in a letter to Americans. "And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term." Read Biden’s letter in full:
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-21): For some social media users, something was missing from President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race: the presidential seal. [...] But the letter’s absence of a presidential seal doesn’t prove that it didn’t come from Biden, or that it wasn’t "Biden’s choice." Unlike Nixon’s decision to resign from the presidency, Biden was discontinuing only his campaign; he continues to serve as president. Biden’s letter was a matter handled by his reelection campaign, not his presidential office. [...] We rate the claim that the lack of a presidential seal on Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves it wasn’t authorized False.
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-20): "There is no joy in the recognition he should not be our nominee in November," said Democratic Rep. Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky, one of the Democrats urging Biden’s exit from the race. From his beach home in Delaware, Biden, 81, is isolating after announcing a COVID infection, but also politically with a small circle of family and close advisers. White House doctor Kevin O’Connor said Saturday that Biden’s symptoms were improving, but that he remained plagued by a dry cough and hoarseness. He received separate briefings Saturday on domestic and national security issues, the White House said. The president’s team insisted he’s ready to return to the campaign this coming week to counter what he called a "dark vision" laid out by Trump. "Together, as a party and as a country, we can and will defeat him at the ballot box," Biden said in a statement Friday. But outside the Rehoboth enclave, the debate and passions are intensifying. Very few of the Democratic lawmakers who are agitating for Biden to leave have mentioned Harris in their statements, and some have said they favor an open nominating process that would throw the party’s endorsement behind a new candidate.
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-22): As President Joe Biden today bowed to the growing chorus of elected Democrats and Democratic voters calling for him to exit the 2024 race, everyone is taking another good hard look at Kamala Harris. "Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala Harris to be the nominee of our party this year, " Biden wrote in a social media post, calling his selection of Harris to be his vice president "the best decision I’ve made." [...] But as Harris emerged as the favored substitute for Biden, more voters seem to be warming to her. A Washington Post poll found that the vast majority of Democratic voters nationwide would be "satisfied" with Harris at the top of the ticket. The same poll found her narrowly beating Trump in a head-to-head election among registered voters.
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-10): - President Joe Biden continues to push back against calls for him to drop out of the race, criticizing "party elites" and calling Democratic anxiety a distraction. [...] Rep. Mikie Sherrill calls on Biden to withdraw from race [...] Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois., one of the handful of Democrats calling on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race, said in an interview today that he thinks Biden’s letter to lawmakers yesterday vowing to stay in the race wasn't the right move.
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-25): Joe Biden’s decision to drop out and endorse Kamala Harris to succeed him on the Democratic ticket has Donald Trump’s team scrambling. [...] Much of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, including the decision to tap Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate, was structured around attacks on President Joe Biden. But then Biden announced Sunday that he was withdrawing from the presidential race altogether. [...] Trump decried Biden’s decision to drop out in a post on Truth Social, writing that his team would have to "start all over again" and asking to be reimbursed for the cost. At the same time, Vance has set straight to work, calling for Biden to resign from the presidency.
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2022-06-21): Federal act prohibiting a president from removing certain appointed officials without the advice and consent of the Senate.
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-08-12): Kennedy, who left Riverkeeper in 2017, has continued to have a major impact on the environmental movement, helping to bring successful lawsuits against DuPont and Monsanto. In April, a number of his former colleagues at the N.R.D.C., including Adams and Barratt-Brown, signed an open letter calling on him to drop out of the Presidential race: "In nothing more than a vanity candidacy, RFK Jr. has chosen to play the role of election spoiler to the benefit of Donald Trump—the single worst environmental president our country has ever had." Barratt-Brown emphasized the deep sense of personal betrayal that the letter’s signatories felt. "That’s his environmental family," she said. (Kennedy is the godfather to one of Barratt-Brown’s children.) She added that Kennedy’s candidacy has weighed heavily on Adams, who is eighty-eight. "I think he feels the strain of having to speak out that way against somebody he was such a mentor to," Barratt-Brown said. [...] That Sunday, Joe Biden announced that he was withdrawing from the campaign, and he endorsed his Vice-President, Kamala Harris, for President. Early polling suggests that Harris is gaining ground with certain traditionally Democratic voters who were disillusioned with Biden. Kennedy’s numbers are slipping. If the youth vote goes to Harris, Kimball, the pollster, said, "that’s going to hurt him." (Fox Kennedy told me that Kennedy would also be open to offers from a Harris Administration.)
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-04-30): Trump: Because we have no choice. I don't believe this is sustainable for a country, what's happening to us, with probably 15 million and maybe as many as 20 million by the time Biden's out. Twenty million people, many of them from jails, many of them from prisons, many of them from mental institutions. I mean, you see what's going on in Venezuela and other countries. They're becoming a lot safer. [...] Well on that question, your lawyer, John Sauer, argued in court recently that if you as President ordered a Navy SEAL team to assassinate a political rival, you shouldn’t be prosecuted. Do you agree with your lawyer?
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-01): "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and seventy-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-ninth." [...] IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and seventy-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-ninth. [...] This letter speaks for itself. In January, I requested food and ammunition for the brave Cambodians, and I regret to say that as of this evening, it may be soon too late.
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2021-01-06): After a day of rioting and tumult, after a woman was fatally shot inside the Capitol, after senators and representatives were driven from their chambers, Congress in the early hours of Jan. 7 affirmed that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were the duly elected president and vice president of the United States. [...] Biden, speaking from Wilmington, Del., said that our democracy "is under unprecedented assault unlike anything we’ve seen in modern times." "This is not dissent," Biden said. "It’s disorder. It’s chaos. It borders on sedition, and it must end now. I call on this mob to pull back and allow the work of democracy to go forward."
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-03-12): The report from special counsel Robert Hur resolves a criminal investigation that had shadowed Biden’s presidency for the last year. But its bitingly critical assessment of his handling of sensitive government records and unflattering characterizations of his memory will spark fresh questions about his competency and age that cut at voters’ most deep-seated concerns about his candidacy for re-election. [...] "I just believed that’s what I owed the American people so they could know no charges would be brought and the matter closed," Biden said. [...] Biden’s personal attorney Bob Bauer accused the special counsel of violating "well-established’ norms and "trashing" the president.
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-25): Some commenters saw the lack of a seal on Biden's letter as proof there was more to the situation than meets the eye. [...] The implied claim is wrong. There is nothing unusual about the presidential seal not appearing on Biden's withdrawal letter. It has been consistently left off letters and other material released by his campaign, as was the case here. [...] Biden's letter does not include the presidential seal, but that's not at all unusual. It was posted to his campaign's social media accounts, not his presidential accounts. The lack of seal is consistent with other letters released by Biden's campaign, including one earlier in July. The seal has repeatedly appeared on letters and other statements posted to his presidential accounts.
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2024-07-23): President Joe Biden will end his bid for reelection and has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. [...] But now that Biden is no longer a candidate, his delegates are free to vote for whomever they’d like. He doesn’t need to formally "release" his delegates.
Claim: The absence of the presidential seal on President Joe Biden’s letter announcing his exit from the presidential race proves “this wasn’t Biden’s choice.” (X post, 2024-07-21)
Evidence (2020-11-07): Biden, who said his decision to run came in the aftermath of the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, instead viewed the race as "a battle for the soul of the nation," as he put it, and tried not to deviate from the singular message that Trump was unfit to lead the country. [...] The 2020 race, much like coronavirus, remained the rare challenge that Trump could not simply negotiate or spin to his will; Biden was the winner — and the next president of the United States. [...] Biden then departed to the safety of his home.
Claim: There is “$500 billion of unspent COVID money” that can be rescinded. (Nikki Haley, 2023-04-10)
Evidence (2023-04-10): Government estimates show that more than $400 billion in COVID-19 relief money remained unspent as of Jan. 31. But government sources say a majority of that money has been allocated, meaning it’s earmarked to be spent and wouldn’t be eligible for rescission. Estimates about how much remains unspent and unallocated range from $70 billion to $90.5 billion.
Claim: There is “$500 billion of unspent COVID money” that can be rescinded. (Nikki Haley, 2023-04-10)
Evidence (2021-02-09): Roughly a third of that money went directly to struggling families through stimulus checks, expanded unemployment payments and food stamps. That leaves about $1 trillion that hasn’t been disbursed yet, even as President Joe Biden is calling on Congress to approve another $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package. [...] About $500 billion left from March 2020 [...] Roughly half of the unspent money comes from the package approved by Congressin late December, when lawmakers passed a $915 billion relief bill that provided $600 stimulus payments, extended unemployment benefits, reopened the small business loan program and various other spending.
Claim: There is “$500 billion of unspent COVID money” that can be rescinded. (Nikki Haley, 2023-04-10)
Evidence (2023-06-04): "Let’s start by clawing back the $500 billion of unspent Covid dollars that we know are out there," she said. Facts First: Haley’s data is out of date. There is $420 billion in Covid-19 funds left unspent as of April 30, according to federal data. [...] House Republican lawmakers have looked into clawing back Covid-19 funds, but the debt ceiling package enacted last week rescinded only about $28 billion of unobligated funds.
Claim: There is “$500 billion of unspent COVID money” that can be rescinded. (Nikki Haley, 2023-04-10)
Evidence (2020-07-31): $9 billion unspent on coronavirus testing Even though there are shortages and delays across the country, just $16 billion of the $25 billion allocated by Congress in April for coronavirus testing has been spent so far, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. [...] The Republican stimulus bill put forth this week wouldn’t allocate more funding for states, but it would make the rules more flexible. The House bill passed in May would provide $500 billion to states and $375 billion to local governments, which they can use to address both budget shortfalls due to lost tax revenue and for coronavirus-related expenses.
Claim: There is “$500 billion of unspent COVID money” that can be rescinded. (Nikki Haley, 2023-04-10)
Evidence (2021-02-21): "There's over a trillion dollars of money unspent from previous relief bills that were bipartisan," Scalise, R-La., said Feb. 21 on ABC’s This Week. "The money's still sitting in a bank account and we're going to pass $1.9 trillion of additional spending to bail out failed states, to raise the minimum wage? What does that have to do with COVID?" [...] The federal government has its own COVID-19 relief spending tracker. It counts dollars differently than the one Scalise used, and it hasn’t been updated since the end of December. By its accounting, out of a total of $2.4 trillion that Congress approved, about $500 billion remains unspent and unobligated. [...] USASpending.gov, COVID-19 spending, Dec. 31, 2020
Claim: There is “$500 billion of unspent COVID money” that can be rescinded. (Nikki Haley, 2023-04-10)
Evidence (2023-05-31): Republican and White House negotiators agreed to claw back approximately $27 billion in funding to federal agencies intended to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The federal COVID emergency officially ended earlier this month, and the unspent funds were an early area of agreement for negotiators trying to avoid a debt default after President Biden said publicly he would be open to looking at what could be given back. [...] Unspent COVID dollars have long been a target of Republicans who questioned administration's requests for more funds, arguing the nearly $5 trillion spent on pandemic relief was excessive and helped drive inflation. [...] Negotiators did not rescind all unspent COVID funding.
Claim: There is “$500 billion of unspent COVID money” that can be rescinded. (Nikki Haley, 2023-04-10)
Evidence (2023-02-28): This snapshot updates the status of COVID-19 funding that we discussed in a prior testimony, and includes spent funds, funds that remain available, and more. [...] As of January 31, 2023, $90.5 billion, or 2 percent of the total amount of funding provided for COVID-19 relief, remained available for obligation (unexpired unobligated balance). Additionally, $23.7 billion was expired (expired unobligated balance), meaning that this amount was not available for incurring new obligations but was available for recording eligible obligation adjustments.
Claim: There is “$500 billion of unspent COVID money” that can be rescinded. (Nikki Haley, 2023-04-10)
Evidence (2022-12-28): Total spent in pandemic relief programs $5.2T $1B [...] - U.S. watchdogs guarding $5 trillion in covid aid say they need more money. Read more [...] Congress at one point sent about $500 billion directly to cities, counties and states to shore up their budgets. But the money often came with few rules. Republican officials, in particular, found ways to channel the funds to pet projects with no relation to the pandemic, including cutting taxes and building border walls.
Claim: There is “$500 billion of unspent COVID money” that can be rescinded. (Nikki Haley, 2023-04-10)
Evidence (2021-12-01): A total of $1.36 trillion of COVID-19 relief funds have been allocated to various programs that provide support to small businesses. Of that, about $1.31 trillion have been committed or disbursed. Much of the unspent funding is in the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) program, which provides low-interest loans to qualifying businesses affected by the pandemic. As of November 4, the Small Business Administration has disbursed $293 billion for EIDLs, which is about 95 percent of the estimated $310 billion in loans that CRFB estimates the program can support. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act rescinded $14 billion of unobligated subsidies for EIDL, which reduced the amount authorized under that program by $165 billion. A number of other loan and grant programs, such as the Shuttered Venues Operators Grant and the State Small Business Credit Initiative, also account for some of the unspent funds. The Paycheck Protection Program, the largest COVID-related program targeting small businesses, expired in May and therefore does not contribute to the estimate of remaining funds.
Claim: There is “$500 billion of unspent COVID money” that can be rescinded. (Nikki Haley, 2023-04-10)
Evidence (2021-12-09): The $500 billion or so in available relief resources that have not been obligated may not end up being spent by agencies. There are deadlines for making these commitments and they could span years. The details also vary by program. Funds that are not eventually obligated are returned for other government uses. [...] Education, health care, and disaster relief are among the areas where the government has underspent its obligated funds, according to a CNBC analysis of Treasury data compiled by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, or PRAC. The agency was created as part of the March 2020 CARES Act to support oversight of pandemic relief spending. Covid relief funding, spent and remaining
Claim: There is “$500 billion of unspent COVID money” that can be rescinded. (Nikki Haley, 2023-04-10)
Evidence (2023-02-03): WASHINGTON — There’s no Republican plan, let alone a bill, to resolve the debt ceiling problem. But some GOP lawmakers are floating one idea to include in a package: rescinding approved but unspent Covid relief funds. Taking back the unused pandemic response money "certainly could" be in a debt ceiling measure to avert default, Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., the chair of the powerful Rules Committee, said. [...] House Republican aides point to government estimates showing $4.61 trillion has been authorized in Covid-19 spending, but $4.12 trillion has been spent. That leaves nearly $500 billion in unspent funds, although a portion of that has been "obligated" to certain pots of money and may be difficult to return to the U.S. Treasury.
Claim: There is “$500 billion of unspent COVID money” that can be rescinded. (Nikki Haley, 2023-04-10)
Evidence (2023-06-05): From 2020 to 2022, the federal government enacted several pieces of legislation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, as part of a deal to suspend the debt ceiling, policymakers are rescinding the remaining funding for COVID-19 relief as a means to reduce federal spending. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that rescinding the remaining $56 billion in funding from appropriations related to the pandemic would result in savings of $30 billion in outlays over the next few years. CBO’s estimate of savings reflects their assumption that some of the authority provided would never have been spent.
Claim: There is “$500 billion of unspent COVID money” that can be rescinded. (Nikki Haley, 2023-04-10)
Evidence (2023-04-10): Is Nikki Haley right that $500 billion in COVID-19 funding could be rescinded? It’s not that simple [...] "We start by clawing back the $500 billion of unspent COVID money," she said at an April 10 town hall in Salix, Iowa. [...] Haley said there is "$500 billion in unspent COVID money" that could be rescinded.