The claim: Video shows Biden announcing the reinstatement of the draft
An Oct. 15 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) showcases a TikTok video supposedly featuring a speech by President Joe Biden. In the video, which begins halfway through a sentence, Biden can be heard stating his plans to “invoke the Selective Service Act, as is my authority as president.” The video then transitions to a man expressing his opposition to a draft using profanity. Text overlaid on the video reads, “No way the draft.” The post garnered over 400 shares in just four days and a version of it on TikTok received over 20,000 shares in five days.
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The video featuring Biden is manipulated. A spokesperson from the Selective Service System has stated that this claim is false and that there have been no discussions of reinstating the draft.
Biden video created using AI
The first nine seconds of the blurry and tightly cropped footage of Biden can be traced back to a video posted by the Post Millennial on X (formerly Twitter) in February. The X post explicitly clarifies that it is fabricated, stating, “AI imagines what would happen if Biden declares and activates the Selective Service Act and begins drafting 20 years old (sic) to war.” The original video also includes footage of conservative commentator Jack Posobiec explaining that the video was created using artificial intelligence.
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According to the Selective Service System, Biden does not possess the unilateral power to call for a military draft. Congress must also authorize it. The Selective Service System outlines a clear sequence of events that need to occur before a draft could happen. Firstly, a national emergency of such gravity that it surpasses the Department of Defense’s capability to recruit and maintain enlistment numbers must transpire. Congress would then need to pass a bill amending the Military Selective Service Act to initiate the draft process. Once the president signs the bill into law, the system would be activated. This would be followed by a draft lottery, which involves a nationally televised and live-streamed random drawing of birthdays and numbers.
“There have been no discussions with Selective Service with any other federal or state agency regarding reinstituting the draft,” said agency spokesperson Robert Kenny.
The TikTok video also mentions the idea of “sending your sons and daughters to war.” However, according to the law, only men are required to register, and the act would need to be amended for this requirement to extend to women.
The United States has not utilized the draft since 1973, during the final years of the Vietnam War. President Jimmy Carter reinstated the requirement in 1980, stating that almost all men between the ages of 18 and 25 who reside in the U.S. should register for the draft.
While the TikTok video doesn’t specify any particular conflicts, its timing strongly suggests that it is a response to the recent war between Israel and Hamas.
USA TODAY has reached out to the social media users who shared the post but has not yet received any responses. PolitiFact has also debunked this claim.
Our fact-check sources:
– Robert Kenny, Oct. 17, Email exchange and phone interview with USA TODAY
– The Post Millennial, Feb. 27, X post
– Selective Service System, accessed Oct. 19, Return to the Draft
– Selective Service System, July 9, 2003, The Military Selective Service Act
– Military.com, March 1, Everything You Need to Know About the Military Draft
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden video calling for draft created with AI | Fact check
