Teen singer and actress Olivia Rodrigo visited the White House on Wednesday, July 14, to encourage young Americans to get vaccinated.
During her visit, Rodrigo met with President Joe Biden and his chief COVID-19 adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, to record videos for a social media push and even dropped in on a White House press briefing.
Rodrigo's White House appearance grabbed headlines across the country with news outlets reporting on everything from the outfit she wore to the memes her visit sparked on social media. The good 4 U hitmaker's trip to D.C. also prompted an image to start circulating on social media, which appeared to show Biden massaging Rodrigo's shoulder and smelling her hair with press secretary Jen Psaki looking on.
Here's the image in question:
Fact-Check
We can confirm that the photo is fake and has been digitally altered to make Biden look creepy. The original image is taken from when Rodrigo made her surprise visit to the White House press briefing with Psaki behind the podium. Here's the original picture:
There's even video footage of it on YouTube. After Psaki introduced Rodrigo, the pop star walked up to the mic and told reporters how she was honored to help spread the message of youth vaccination and be a part of the initiative.
Biden was not even present at the time. However, someone managed to photoshop the president into the frame behind Rodrigo. The photo of Biden in the manipulated image was lifted from a swearing-in ceremony for former Defense Secretary Ash Carter in 2015. His wife, Stephanie Carter, said Biden was squeezing her shoulders in support because she was "nervous" and the photo had been misconstrued.
Although Biden and Rodrigo did meet, it was in a closed setting in the Oval Office, where the two of them put aviators on and posed for pictures. "Thanks for stopping by, Olivia, and for using your voice to urge young people to get vaccinated," reads the caption from the POTUS Instagram account.
