Confirmation needed: RFK Jr. asserted Biden's mention at RNC was limited to two occurrences. However, it was actually close to 400 instances.
Kennedy tried to paint the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week as not giving enough attention to substance and more focused on style, as well as being overly critical of former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate who Kennedy stated he was backing.
Kennedy stated: “During the first day in Chicago, Democratic speakers brought up Trump 147 times... Why bother with policy when you have Trump to vent your frustration at. On the other hand, during the Republican National Convention, Biden was only mentioned twice in four days.”
Fact-Check: Kennedy's claim about Biden mentions at the Republican National Convention is significantly off the mark. A New York Times examination of all the speeches at the RNC revealed that the word “Biden” was used a total of 393 times. Republican vice-presidential candidate, Sen. JD Vance, said the word “Biden” 12 times in his own convention speech.
Trump himself uttered “Biden” twice in his convention speech (during a single reference), but Kennedy's claim pertained to the Republicans' four-day gathering overall.
The unfounded claim that Biden was mentioned just twice throughout the Republican convention's four days has been making the rounds on social media this week. The origin of this claim remains uncertain, but a simple search of the speeches delivered by a few RNC speakers reveals its inaccuracy.
For instance, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich mentioned “Biden” nine times in his speech; former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned “Biden” eight times; Nikki Haley, the former US ambassador to the UN, said “Biden” seven times, just as did Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York and Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida; Donald Trump Jr. mentioned “Biden” four times, as did US Senate candidate Kari Lake of Arizona.
And these figures only account for explicit mentions of Biden. Various convention speakers criticized the president without explicitly naming him.
At the time of writing, CNN has not carried out or seen a comprehensive independent analysis of the language used at the Democratic National Convention, which concluded on that day.
Kennedy's critique of the Democratic National Convention's focus on style over substance and excessive criticism of Trump also highlighted the discrepancy in mentions of their respective opponents. Despite Kennedy's claim, a thorough analysis revealed that former Vice President Joe Biden was mentioned over 300 times during the Republican National Convention. This misinformation circulated widely on social media, but a review of several key speakers' speeches proved it to be inaccurate.
