Did Joe Biden create “Office of the President Elect”? Fact Check

ByCraig Haley

Claims on social media assert that Joe Biden created the “Office of the President Elect” to create the illusion that he won the 2020 presidential election amid claims of fraud by President Trump.

FALSE

An example of such a claim is below.

Despite such claims, the title President Elect and the “Office of the President Elect” have existed long before Biden’s projected election 2020 victory. The title itself has existed for many past presidents, both Democrat and Republican, who have traditionally taken on the title after they have been projected to win a presidential election. Again, it is a tradition for the winning candidate to take on this title before the results have been certified by U.S Congress, which often takes weeks or months after the election period.

This is true of 2016 when President Trump defeated Hillary Clinton. The electoral college victory was not certified until January 6th 2017, yet Trump embraced the title soon after he was projected to have won the election. Trump subsequently tweeted a number of headlines referring to him as the president-elect, many weeks before those results were certified by Congress.

The Office of the President Elect.

While not an official office recognised by the Federal Government, the ‘Office of the President Elect’ has served as an unofficial office for the incoming administration’s transition team. Again, this has existed long before Biden’s projected 2020 victory, and have been used by a number of incoming administrations, including both Obama and Trump.


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The branding of this unofficial office was bolstered during Obama’s first presidential victory, when then President-Elect Obama stood behind a podium containing the words “Office of the President-Elect”. As far as we can ascertain, this is the first time this unofficial office was branded in such a way. See below.

Again, Republican Trump followed suit, and held a press conference in January 2017, shortly before his inauguration, behind a podium with the wording “The Office of the President Elect, New York, New York.” See below.

Biden’s use of the term President Elect, and the branding of the Office of the President Elect have been in keeping with how they have been traditionally used by past administrations. Biden did not create the term or the office itself.

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