Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles inaccurately claimed that United States (U.S.) President Joe Biden met only with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City.
STATEMENT
In a press conference on Sept. 23 (Manila time), video recording in social media posts from journalists who covered the event show Cruz-Angeles saying:
“I understand a lot of requests have been made to the U.S. president. That is significant that he spoke only with President Marcos on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.”
Source: PTV official Twitter, PANOORIN: Inihayag ni Press Sec. Trixie Cruz-Angeles na si Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. lamang ang nakausap ni US Pres. Joe Biden sa sidelines ng United Nations General Assembly sa kabila ng ilan pang mga nagpahayag ng kahilingan na makausap ang lider ng Amerika. #PBBMinUSA, Sept. 23, 2022; Alexis B. Romero Twitter account, WATCH: Press Sec. Trixie Cruz-Angeles: A lot of requests had been made to the US President…it is significant that he spoke only w/ Pres. Marcos on the sidelines of UN General Assembly. While it’s true he spoke w/ one other person, that was a postponed meeting, Sept. 23, 2022; Pia Gutierrez Twitter account, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz Angeles says out of several requests, US President Joe Biden granted a bilateral meeting only to Philippine President Marcos Jr, Sept. 23, 2022
Hours later, however, Cruz-Angeles apologized and clarified her statement:
“Tanging ang request na makipagpulong ni Pangulong Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. kay U.S. President Joe Biden ang napaunlakan sa sidelines ng United Nations General Assembly. (Only the request of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. for a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden was accepted on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.”
She went on to say:
“Ang ibang meeting ni Pangulong Biden ay mga dati nang napagkasunduan pero na-postpone at itinuloy na lamang sa pagkakataon na ito. (The other meetings of President Biden had long been agreed upon but were postponed, and pushed through only this time).”
Source: ABS-CBN official Twitter, Angeles: Tanging ang request na makipagpulong ni Pangulong Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. kay US President Joe Biden ang napaunlakan sa sidelines ng United Nations General Assembly. | via @pia_gutierrez, Sept. 23, 2022; Hana Bordey Twitter account, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz Angeles issues a clarification on her earlier statement claiming that President Bongbong Marcos is the only world leader to have met US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the 77th UN General Assembly. @gmanews @gmanewsbreaking, Sept. 23, 2022; Philstar.com, Angeles clarifies claim Biden only spoke to Marcos at UNGA sidelines, Sept. 23, 2022
Cruz-Angeles’ press briefing originally posted on the website of the Office of the Press Secretary had been taken down as of publication.
FACT
White House records show Biden met with at least five other world leaders on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York City.
According to official press releases, Biden met British Prime Minister Liz Truss and French President Emmanuel Macron after meeting U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.
The U.S. president also met key U.S. allies in Asia such as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
According to the U.N.’s official website, the UNGA is the organization’s main policy-making organ. The appointment of the U.N. secretary general, election of the U.N. Security Council’s non-permanent members and approval of the U.N. budget occurs during the general assembly.
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Sources
PTV official Twitter, PANOORIN: Inihayag ni Press Sec. Trixie Cruz-Angeles na si Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. lamang ang nakausap ni US Pres. Joe Biden sa sidelines ng United Nations General Assembly sa kabila ng ilan pang mga nagpahayag ng kahilingan na makausap ang lider ng Amerika. #PBBMinUSA, Sept. 23, 2022
Alexis B. Romero Twitter account, WATCH: Press Sec. Trixie Cruz-Angeles: A lot of requests had been made to the US President…it is significant that he spoke only w/ Pres. Marcos on the sidelines of UN General Assembly. While it’s true he spoke w/ one other person, that was a postponed meeting, Sept. 23, 2022
Pia Gutierrez Twitter account, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz Angeles says out of several requests, US President Joe Biden granted a bilateral meeting only to Philippine President Marcos Jr, Sept. 23, 2022
ABS-CBN official Twitter, Angeles: Tanging ang request na makipagpulong ni Pangulong Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. kay US President Joe Biden ang napaunlakan sa sidelines ng United Nations General Assembly. | via @pia_gutierrez, Sept. 23, 2022
Hana Bordey Twitter account, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz Angeles issues a clarification on her earlier statement claiming that President Bongbong Marcos is the only world leader to have met US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the 77th UN General Assembly. @gmanews @gmanewsbreaking, Sept. 23, 2022
Philstar.com, Angeles clarifies claim Biden only spoke to Marcos at UNGA sidelines, Sept. 23, 2022
White House official website, Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, Sept. 21, 2022
White House official website, Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with Prime Minister Liz Truss of the United Kingdom, Sept. 21, 2022
White House official website, Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with President Emmanuel Macron of France, Sept. 21, 2022
White House official website, Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea, Sept. 21, 2022
White House official website, Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with Prime Minister Kishida of Japan, Sept. 21, 2022
United Nations official website, General Assembly of the United Nations, accessed on Sept. 23, 2022
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)
