Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Bizarre conspiracy theory claims Biden didn’t test drive Ford truck and it was in control of secret service

However, these theories did not hold water on further scrutiny by Internet users

Maroosha Muzaffar
Thursday 20 May 2021 03:13 EDT
Comments
Joe Biden test-drives electric Ford pickup truck

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A few days after Joe Biden travelled to a Ford electric vehicle plant and took a spin in an electric truck, conspirators online are now claiming that the president staged the whole thing.

On Tuesday, Mr Biden visited Dearborn, Michigan to Ford Electric Vehicle Center and test drove the F-150 Lightning Truck but conspiracy theorists are convinced he wasn’t actually driving it. Some are claiming that Mr Biden took part in an elaborate ruse to fool the public and that the car had, in fact, a second steering wheel.

“The model Joe Biden was ‘driving’ has two steering wheels,” author Jim Hoft of far-right website Gateway wrote. The internet soon followed suit. Mr Hoft’s theory was based on a single frame of a video that shows the president driving the electric truck.

However, these theories did not hold water on further scrutiny by Internet users.

In the videos and photos from the day, it is clear that there is a secret services agent in the truck, whose arm is outstretched towards the dashboard of the vehicle. But there is no second steering wheel, that right-wing internet was trying to prove.

Driving the electric truck, Mr Biden had commented: “This sucker’s quick.”

One Twitter user noted that those right-wing conspiracy theorists were claiming was a second steering wheel was in fact a DSLR camera that the secret service agent appeared to be holding on to keep it from falling off the dashboard.

Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich) who was with Mr Biden during his visit to the Ford Center also shared a photo of the truck. And it also didn’t show any second steering wheel.

Others called the claims of Mr Biden not really driving the electric vehicle “utter nonsense.”

On Tuesday, Mr Biden had said: “We need automakers and other companies to keep investing here in America and not take the benefits of our public investments and expand electric vehicles and battery manufacturing abroad.”

The president added: “We’re going to set a new pace for electric vehicles.”

Mr Biden is aiming to push for electric vehicles in the auto industry and the White House wants to encourage production facilities which will ultimately ramp up the electric vehicle manufacturing in the country.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in