![true](https://static.politifact.com/CACHE/images/politifact/rulings/tom_ruling_pof/47ae831c64f67823d0eecfa4a5d22765.jpg.)
![pants-fire](https://static.politifact.com/politifact/rulings/tom_ruling_pof.png)
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The video of President Joe Biden walking out to the White House’s Rose Garden was shot at a lower angle. Because the camera was pointing up at Biden, it made him look taller.
In the video, Biden was standing a few steps in front of first lady Jill Biden, making him appear bigger because he was closer to the camera. In another photo from that day, the Bidens were standing beside each other, and their height difference was less exaggerated.
After President Joe Biden addressed the nation July 24 about his decision to exit the 2024 presidential race, Biden walked out into the White House’s Rose Garden standing tall. But some social media users claimed the president looked too tall.
A July 25 Instagram post shared a video of Biden walking from the Oval Office to the Rose Garden, with first lady Jill Biden and other Biden family members standing behind him. The video’s narrator said, "People are saying Joe Biden looks a lot taller."
The Instagram video then showed photos of Joe and Jill Biden together to note their height difference, implying that it wasn’t as big in those instances. "There’s obviously something going on here," the narrator said, flashing back to the Rose Garden and noting that Jill Biden was wearing heels.
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
(Screengrab from Instagram)
We saw the same claim circulating on X, where the footage of Biden was being used to prop up the false conspiracy theory that Biden employs a body double for public appearances. This conspiracy gained traction ahead of the June 27 presidential debate.
PolitiFact and other news outlets have repeatedly fact-checked false claims that Biden employs a body double or that video footage shows a masked impersonator instead of the real Biden.
Social media users have also speculated that Biden’s recent appearances, including a July 22 phone call with Vice President Kamala Harris, have been generated with artificial intelligence. We found no credible evidence to support this claim.
Also, people stop growing during adolescence. So, it’s biologically improbable that Biden, as an 81-year-old, grew taller over the few days he isolated in his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, home following his COVID-19 diagnosis July 17. Biden’s official health summary from February says he is 6 feet tall.
So, if Biden doesn’t have a body double, and he didn’t have miraculous growth spurt, what explains Biden’s taller appearance in the Rose Garden video?
It’s the camera angle.
Biden was standing atop the steps by the colonnade outside of the Oval Office, and the cameraperson was in the Rose Garden. So, Biden stood in an elevated position compared with the person filming.
Angling a camera up at people can make them look taller in photos and videos.
(Left image is a screengrab from Instagram. Right photo is courtesy of The Associated Press.)
Joe Biden also appears taller in the video because he is standing a few steps in front of Jill Biden, and people closer to the camera will naturally look bigger. Another photo of the Bidens, which was taken just before they walked out of the Oval Office and toward the Rose Garden, shows less of an apparent height difference because they are standing side by side.
We rate the claim that a video shows Biden was taller when he emerged from a July 24 Oval Office speech Pants on Fire!
Instagram post, July 25, 2024
X post, July 25, 2024
X post, July 25, 2024
X post, July 25, 2024
X post, July 25, 2024
X post, July 25, 2024
X post, July 25, 2024
The White House, "President Biden's current health summary," Feb. 28, 2024
Cleveland Clinic, "How Tall Will Your Child Be?," Nov. 21, 2022
Adobe, "What is a low angle shot in film," accessed July 26, 2024
PolarPro, "Filming 101: Types of Camera Shots and Angles," accessed July 26, 2024
The Associated Press, photo of Joe and Jill Biden in the Oval Office, July 24, 2024
PolitiFact, "Biden is back at the White House. Viral claims that he was dying are unfounded," July 23, 2024
PolitiFact, "Biden debate prep fuels false and misleading claims about body doubles and drugs," June 26, 2024
PolitiFact, "Altered image fuels unfounded claims that President Joe Biden has a ‘body double’," May 3, 2023
PolitiFact, "No, this video doesn’t prove Biden has a body double," Sept. 7, 2022
PolitiFact, "Two-year old video claims to show Biden body double, but offers no evidence," Sept. 29, 2023
PolitiFact, "That’s no masked impersonator. It’s really President Joe Biden.," April 27, 2023
PolitiFact, "Don’t confuse President Joe Biden with Leatherface; claims he’s wearing a ‘skin mask’ are unfounded," Sept. 13, 2023
PolitiFact, "Was someone in a Joe Biden mask at the State of the Union? No, It was Biden himself," Feb. 10, 2023
PolitiFact, "What is QAnon, the baseless conspiracy spilling into US politics?," Aug. 27, 2020
Reuters, "Claims that a ‘body double’ got COVID-19 booster instead of Biden are false, use digitally altered photo," Oct. 6, 2021
Reuters, "Fact check: Biden ‘skintone mismatch’ in CNBC interview is due to lighting, not body double or deepfake," Oct. 7, 2020
NBC News, "Listen: Biden speaks over phone to campaign staff," July 22, 2024
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