That’s Beau, not Hunter, in 1973 photo of Joe Biden taking oath of office | Fact check

The claim: Image shows Joe Biden using son Hunter for photo opportunity in 1973

A Dec. 2 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of an X post that includes a black-and-white image of President Joe Biden taking the oath of office for his first term as a U.S. senator from Delaware.

“This is Joe Biden being sworn into the Senate,” reads text in the X post. “That little boy is Hunter. He has a fractured skull and brain injuries from the car wreck. Joe made him get dressed up for a photo op cause he thought it would be good for his career. Hate Joe. Pity Hunter. Kid never had a chance.”

The Facebook post was shared more than 900 times in 11 days. The X post was reposted more than 2,000 times in that same time.

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Our rating: False

The image shows Biden’s eldest son, Beau, not his youngest son, Hunter. It was taken in 1973 when Biden was sworn into the Senate in a Delaware hospital so he could be with his two sons, who were recovering after being hurt in a car crash that killed his first wife and young daughter.

Biden sworn in weeks after wife and daughter died in car crash

On Dec. 18, 1972, Biden’s first wife, Neilia, and their 13-month-old daughter, Naomi, died in a car crash. The couple’s two sons, 4-year-old Beau and 3-year-old Hunter, were also seriously injured.

A month earlier, Biden had unseated incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. J. Caleb Boggs, who had been one of Delaware’s senators for over a decade. Biden considered walking away from his newly won Senate seat but was instead sworn in about two weeks later while standing in the chapel of a Delaware hospital with his two sons nearby.

But that’s not Hunter in the black-and-white image – it’s Biden’s other son, Beau. The image was taken by an Associated Press photographer on Jan. 5, 1973, and the caption says the young boy in the foreground is Beau, not Hunter. A similar photo from Getty Images also identifies the boy as Beau.

Fact check: False claim Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush pardoned family members

At the time, Beau was still bedridden with a fractured leg, but Hunter had been released from the hospital after he was treated for a slight skull fracture, according to excerpts from Jules Witcover’s biography, “Joe Biden: A Life of Trial and Redemption,” published by The Washington Post.

Beau died of brain cancer in 2015, when he was 46 years old. In early December, Biden announced that he had pardonedHunter, who was convicted of federal gun and tax charges. Biden said his son's conviction was a "miscarriage of justice,” prompting him to reverse course after previously saying he wouldn’t pardon his son.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

PolitiFact also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources

• Delaware News Journal, Dec. 14, 2022, Joe Biden lost his wife and baby daughter 50 years ago. It changed the course of his life
• The Associated Press, Jan. 5, 1973, Election 2020 Joe Biden Profile
• Getty Images, Jan. 6, 1973, Joe Biden Taking Oath of Office Next to Injured Son
• The Washington Post. Jan. 11, 2021, Biden, once one of the nation’s youngest senators, will be its oldest president

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