Shortly after President Joe Biden fell off his bike near his home in Delaware, false claims about the incident surfaced on social media.
A June 19 Instagram post purports to show a screenshot of a headline from The Atlantic reading, "The Heroism of Biden’s Bike Fall.”
"The President gracefully illustrated an important lesson for all Americans – when we fall, we must get back up,” reads the subhead.
The screenshot includes The Atlantic logo and text that says “Subscribe” in the upper right corner and also features a reference to the outlet’s newsletter.
The post generated over 25,000 likes within three days. Similar claims have gained hundreds of interactions on Instagram and Twitter.
Though Biden did fall, the Atlantic article in these social media posts is not real. A spokesperson for The Atlantic told USA TODAY the outlet didn't publish any such story.
USA TODAY reached out to the social media posters who shared the claim for comment.
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USA TODAY did not find the purported headline on The Atlantic's website or social media accounts. Anna Bross, a spokesperson for The Atlantic, confirmed in an email exchange with USA TODAY that the headline is fake.
The Atlantic also addressed the fake article in a newsletter published June 21.
"P.S.: If you've seen an Atlantic...
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