Joe Biden has only been president for a few days, but already his critics on social media say the country collapsed during his tenure.

A reader told us a Facebook post dated Jan. 24, which promised to “take a look at the Biden / Harris administration” and what it had done in its early days. The post was also reported as part of Facebook’s efforts to tackle fake news and disinformation on its news feed. (Learn more about our partnership with Facebook.)

The message read: “2pm yesterday marked Biden’s 50th hour in the office. How are all my liberal friends feeling?” He concluded: “Everything they did in THREE DAYS has benefited other countries and hurt Americans.”

The post made 16 different claims about Biden’s early actions. Many have exaggerated the effect of what he did or accused him of taking steps he never took.

“A loss of 52,100 oil jobs.”

It needs context.

He refers to Biden cancelation federal approvals required to construct the Keystone XL pipeline between Canada and Nebraska. Social media complaints have cited the 11,000 construction jobs and another 42,100 jobs, which would combine to 52,100.

The 11,000 digit is the one who has been published by the company, although most of these jobs are temporary.

In the meantime, the figure of 42,100 is close to that cited in 2014 in an 11-volume State Department analysis. However, it deserves a big asterisk: The State Department defined “employment” as “a position that is filled for 1 year”, which means that most of these jobs would be temporary. Another asterisk is that it includes estimated indirect jobs that support the construction workforce and are not “in the oil”.

The State Department predicted that it would take no more than 50 jobs, some of which could be located in Canada, to maintain the pipeline. Thirty-five of them would be permanent, while 15 would be for temporary contractors.

“End of the energy independence of the United States.”

It’s speculative at best.

In 2019, the latest year for which full data is available, U.S. energy production exceeded U.S. energy use on an annual basis for the first time since 1957, according to the federal government. Energy information administration. This is a common definition of “energy independence”.

However, there is no guarantee that the United States will come out of energy independence because of everything Biden has done or plans to do.

In addition to blocking the Keystone XL pipeline, Biden’s Executive Decree on Climate Change has put a temporary moratorium on leasing oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Biden has separately promised to block the new fracking – a method of extracting natural gas criticized by environmentalists – on federal lands, but not on private lands.

These policy changes could potentially increase the amount of energy produced in the United States, but Biden has not banned any current production – any new production from the avenues he closed would have taken years to materialize. So it’s impossible to say that any of Biden’s changes would reduce current production levels below US consumption needs.

“Canada and Texas are suing Biden.”

This is partially correct.

Texas wasted little time at to chase the Biden administration On a plan to freeze deportations for 100 days as long as the person entered the country before November and are not considered threats to national security. (The idea of ​​Texas suing the Biden administration was not unexpected, as state attorney general Ken Paxton, a Republican, is a staunch opponent of Biden and Democrat policies. In fact, Paxton pursued four states of the battlefield on their electoral certifications of Biden’s victory, an effort that ended up nowhere in the Supreme Court.)

As for a lawsuit by Canada, it has not yet taken place. Canada could continue following the cancellation of Keystone XL.

The province of Alberta, which invested in the pipeline, could sue for pecuniary damages. Jim Bowe, an energy lawyer with the King & Spalding law firm, said Canada’s federal government “will likely give very careful thought to turning this into a dispute.”

“Antifa (just a good idea), keep rioting and torching Portland and Seattle.”

It needs context.

On the opening day, dozens of black-clad protesters marched and ransacked buildings and set fire to Portland and Seattle, two cities that have seen repeated clashes between “antifa,” or anti-fascist protesters, and the police.

The attendees were mostly anarchists, not Biden friendly groups or Democrats, according to reports.

A sign read: “We don’t want Biden – we want revenge,” and some buildings were spray painted with the anarchist symbol, according to the New York Times. In Portland, rioters even broken windows at the headquarters of the State Democratic Party.

“Sent our troops who were in Washington to sleep on the floor of a parking lot, in freezing weather, with cars parked there and a bathroom. But the WH made them cookies. “

This is not supported.

Politico reported that a National Guard unit resting in the Senate office building in Dirksen was abruptly ordered by the Capitol Police to leave on the night of January 21. The unit ended up in a parking lot with no internet reception and only had one electrical outlet and a two bathroom stall. It was supposed to accommodate 5,000 soldiers, according to the article.

But there is no proof that Biden or any other Democratic official ordered guard troops to enter a parking lot.

There are conflicting statements about who requested the relocation, but the National Guard told PolitiFact members of Congress were unaware.

“Created a new federal property mask mandate, which he has already broken countless times.”

This is incorrect.

Social media posts criticized Biden for showing up at the Lincoln Memorial on January 20 without a mask shortly after signing a Executive Decree requiring the use of masks on federal property, which includes the Lincoln Memorial. However, the posts deceptively portrayed what Biden did at this event.

Biden was on the outside at the time and socially estranged from the only other person near him – which elements agree with federal guidelines. He also has wore his mask for other parts of the event.

“Now allows counting illegal immigrants for representation in Congress.”

It needs context.

The message implies that illegally counting people in the United States is something new to the Biden administration, but the reality is that Biden maintains the same policy that has been in place for decades.

The census is used to determine how many House seats (and therefore presidential electoral votes) are allocated to each state. The census’s long-standing policy has been to count everyone in the United States, regardless of their legal status. This method was challenged when President Donald Trump sought to change it so that only those here legally were counted.

But efforts to illegally exclude people in the United States were scrapped when Trump stepped down. On his first day in office, Biden signed an order rejecting any other consideration of the idea.

“A complete stop to the cancellation of the student loan he promised.”

This is a mistake.

During his campaign, Biden promised to write off student loan debts at public colleges and universities, and there is no indication that he has reneged on that promise.

In fact, while a large forgiveness of student debt would likely require Congressional action, Biden has taken a step in this area by Executive Decree during his first days in office. Its action continued a pause in student loan payments that had been in place since March 2020. An estimate 42 million borrowers are affected.

“A complete end to the $ 2,000 stimulus package he promised.”

This is also incorrect.

Biden offered a $ 1,400 stimulus payment in his American rescue plan announced a few days before taking office. Combined with the $ 600 already spent in a bipartisan package in December, that would equate to at least $ 2,000 for many Americans.

The adoption of this measure will require action by Congress, which has not yet officially moved forward on the proposal. There is no indication that Biden has withdrawn this aspect of his proposal.

“And JUST TODAY – 8 Chinese bombers, 4 fighters and 1 sub-fighter just broke through the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone, crossing the Taiwan Strait.”

This is not a new model under Biden.

The number of Chinese incursions into Taiwanese airspace in 2020 – around 380 sorties – was the highest since 1996, according to Voice of America. This means that these incursions peaked during Trump’s tenure.

“Gasoline has risen 50 cents a gallon here since election day, based on speculation. $ 1.89 here at most gas stations on election day. Now $ 2.39. “

No. Gasoline prices have never been so volatile.

During the week of Jan. 18 – the period that includes the start of Biden’s presidency – the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline hit $ 2.39, according to the American Automobile Association. But it only went up two cents, not 50 cents. It was 16 cents more than a month earlier and 15 cents less than a year earlier.

The state with the largest increase during that week was Florida, with a 10-cent increase.