Old video of U.S. President Biden shared to claim he 'may resign due to medical reasons'

What is the claim? 

A video purportedly depicting U.S. President Joe Biden stating he "may resign the presidency for medical reasons" has gone viral on X (formerly Twitter). 

Screenshot of posts from X that shared the video with the claim that U.S. President Biden may resign. (Source: X (formerly Twitter/Modified by Logically Facts)

The video features Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in a CNN interview. Biden is heard saying: "But, all kidding aside, it's a matter of, the thing, we are simpatico on our philosophy of government and simpatico on how we want to attach— approach these issues that we're facing. And so I don't have — and when we disagree, it will be just like— so far, it has been just like when Barack and I did. It's in private. She'll say, I think we should do A, B, C, or D, and I will say, I like A, don't like B and C. And let's go, OK. But, and like I told Barack, if I reach something where there's a fundamental disagreement we have based on a moral principle, I will develop some disease and say I have to resign." 

Alex Jones, an American radio host known for spreading misinformation, shared the post on X with the caption: "Breaking Video: Biden Says He May Resign The Presidency For Medical Reasons." Jones' post (archived here) has garnered over 1.2 million views. Archived versions of similar posts can be found here, here, and here. 

However, we discovered that this 2020 video has been misused to make a false claim, as Biden was not discussing resigning from the presidency.

What we found 

A Google search led us to this transcript (archived here) of the December 2020 CNN interview with host Jake Tapper. This was the first joint interview with Biden and Harris after their election as president and vice president by the Democratic Party, before they took office.

Screenshot of the interview transcript with the quote from the viral video. (Source: CNN)

The transcript reveals that Biden, answering a question from the host, referenced a hypothetical scenario from his time as vice president under Barack Obama (2009-2017) to illustrate his expectations for working with Harris. Biden explained how they plan to address disagreements based on moral principles.

We also found a CNN article (archived here) from December 2020 containing this quote from the viral video: "...simpatico on our philosophy of government and simpatico on how we want to approach these issues that we're facing."

This publicly broadcast interview with Biden and Harris aired on CNN on December 3, 2020, and is not related to the ongoing 2024 presidential campaign.

In fact, on July 3, 2024, Biden's spokesperson said that he is "absolutely not" withdrawing from the U.S. presidential race. This statement came after calls for Biden to drop out of his re-election bid following his performance in the June 27, 2024, presidential debate, which prompted concerns about his health.

The verdict 

A 2020 interview has been taken out of context to falsely claim that incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden may resign as president in 2024 for medical reasons. Biden has made no such statement.