Fact-Checker Performs Surprising Reassessment of Biden Hard-Hat Photo

Fact-checking website Snopes got criticized for claiming it was “false” that President Joe Biden wore a hard hat backwards in a picture of him hanging out with workers in Superior, Wis. — then changed their position after receiving a “ton of comments.”

The photo went viral among conservative social media posters, which led to the Snopes check, Mediaite reported.

The first tweet used in the fact-check was a zoomed in photo of Biden wearing a hard hat backwards.

The close-up was from a photo of Biden wearing a hard hat backwards that was shared by Minnesota Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Snopes also included a tweet which showed the same hat on a construction worker’s head facing the other direction.

Pointing out the bill of the hat, Snopes accused the construction worker of being the one wearing the hard hat wrong, not Biden.

“Do construction workers sometimes wear their hard hats backwards? Yes. But to do so, the internal suspension has to be reversed to fit correctly, which explains why, when Biden donned the hat with the brim forward, the nape strap ended up on his forehead,” the original article concluded.

But one X user pointed out the backward logic: “So the nape strap determines if on correctly??” wrote Vapid Surplus. “Thx” — and the reactions piled on. 

Later, an updated explanation from Snopes was posted, making a head-spinning reversal and claiming the photo was “true.”

“We received a ton of comments in a very short time challenging our assumption that wearing a hard hat ‘backwards’ means wearing it with the brim facing to the rear, and ‘forwards’ means wearing it brim to the front,” an Editor’s Note stated.

“On the basis of that assumption, we originally rated the claim that Biden was wearing a hard hat backwards as false.

“The prevailing counter-argument is that if the suspension of the hat has been purposely configured by its owner such that the bill and tightening knob are worn to the back (as was the case of the hat Biden wore), to wear that hat with the bill facing forward is, practically speaking, to wear it backwards. Therefore, it’s argued, it’s actually true that, in the photo op discussed below, Biden was wearing it backwards. The strap and tightening knob, which should have been behind Biden’s head, were on his forehead.”

“We find these arguments sound,” the noted added. “Therefore, the claim ‘President Joe Biden wore a hard hat backwards during a photo op with union construction workers in Superior, Wisconsin’ is true, and this fact check has been re-rated as such.”