No, President Joe Biden didn’t ‘agree’ to a recount in the 2024 presidential election

President Joe Biden called President-elect Donald Trump on Nov. 6 to congratulate him on his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. 

Biden "expressed his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition and emphasized the importance of working to bring the country together," the White House said in a statement. 

On Nov. 13, at Biden’s invitation, Trump visited the White House, where Biden welcomed him back and offered to do "everything we can to make sure you’re accommodated, have what you need." 

But some social media users are claiming that Biden is behind an election recount effort.

"Biden agreed to recount," a Nov. 9 Threads post said. "Video on my page!"

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Instagram posts

stated on October 20, 2024 in an Instagram post

If an election worker writes anything on your ballot before you put it in the voting machine, “your ballot could be disqualified.”

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, Instagram and Threads.)

The same Threads account also posted a link to a Nov. 6 TikTok video that said, "BREAKING: Biden has been asked to do an election recount on Trump’s victory."

The White House didn’t immediately respond to PolitiFact’s questions about the post. Harris, meanwhile, has conceded the election. And we found no evidence, such as public statements from the White House or Biden or credible news coverage to support the claim that Biden has agreed to a recount. 

State laws govern  processes for disputing election results, the Library of Congress notes. Sometimes recounts are initiated automatically. In Pennsylvania, for example, the unofficial results in the U.S. Senate race Nov. 5 triggered a legally required statewide count because they were within one-half of 1 percentage point. A recount can also be initiated "at the request of a person or group with legal standing," the Library of Congress says. "Each state has its own laws for conducting recounts." 

Forty-one states and Washington, D.C., permit a losing candidate, a voter, a group of voters, or other concerned parties to petition for a recount, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Biden voted in Delaware, which allows any candidate for statewide office in a general election to apply to the court for a recount if the margin is less than 1,000 votes or less than 0.5% of all votes cast for two candidates — whichever amount is less, the National Conference of State Legislatures says.  

But we found no reports that Biden requested a recount, much less agreed to one. We rate the claim Biden agreed to a recount False.