Fact Check: Did Biden Say That Signing Lots of Executive Orders Makes President a Dictator?

By Dana Cruz First Posted: Jan 30, 2021 06:21 AM EST

President Biden Returns To White House From Walter Reed

(Photo : Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
U.S. President Joe Biden walks to the White House residence upon exiting Marine One on January 29, 2021 in Washington, DC. President Biden traveled to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to visit with wounded service members.

Some of President Joe Biden's outspoken critics are using his words against him and are posting a video claiming he admitted to "governing like a dictator." But how true is the video?

On January 26, the founder of the conservative advocacy group Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk, posted on Instagram a clip of Biden speaking on-stage about his executive actions. The video had a text saying: "Joe Biden admits he is governing like a 'dictator.'"

"34+ Executive Orders in less than a week and we're supposed to believe that *Trump* was the one who governed like a dictator?" Charlie Kirk said in the caption.

Since Biden took office after Inauguration Day, there had been a flurry of about three dozen executive orders. This, on top of the Instagram post, prompted scrutiny from social media users and lawmakers who said his many executive actions did not reflect his pledge to unify the country, reported The Associated Press.

The Instagram post also had several duplicates on Facebook. It has been flagged by Facebook's effort against fake news and misinformation.

Charlie Kirk's Claim About Biden is Not True, Fact Check Shows

The video came from an October town hall interview with Pres. Biden in the weeks leading up to the presidential election campaign.

During the discussion, Biden answered questions with host George Stephanopoulos, and somebody from his audience asked about his plan to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

Politifact said in a post that Charlie Kirk's claim that Biden "admitted" to governing like a dictator was not true.

In a transcript of the exchange, Stephanopoulos asked Biden if there would be any delay on the tax increases.

"No, well, I've got to get the votes. I got to get the votes," Pres. Biden replied.

Biden then talked about some comments from some of his Republican and Democratic friends as they told him: "Well, if you can't get the votes, by executive order you're going to do something."

For Biden, however, "(There are) things you can't do by executive order, unless you're a dictator. We're a democracy. We need consensus."

There was some missing context to Biden's past comments about using executive orders on changing federal tax policy, which Biden has not done.

The video also clearly showed that Biden, who had served as U.S. senator for more than three decades, pushed back on the idea that he could quickly change federal policies by executive order.

Several social media posts excluded Stephanopoulos's question, making Biden appear "as a hypocrite" for referring to executive orders as dictatorial, reported The Associated Press.

The posts reached Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. On Thursday morning, McConnell said that when Biden was presidential candidate, he said, "you can't legislate by executive action unless you are a dictator."

"Well, in one week, he's signed more than 30 unilateral actions, and working Americans are getting short shrift," McConnell further noted in a report. McConnell reportedly seemed to imply that Biden signing a lot of executive orders in the past weeks means he contradicted the "dictator" comment.

Biden, Aides Defend Use of Executive Actions

Biden and his aides said they believe executive action was a "pale substitute" to legislative action, reported FOX 59. At the same time, they defended their heavy use of executive orders at the start of the administration.

They said it was a necessary stopgap to address the current health crisis and reverse former President Donald Trump's policies.

"There are steps... that he felt he could not wait to overturn, and that's exactly what he did," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

Other presidents also made heavy use of executive actions and were also criticized by the opposition party for doing so.

In Bill Clinton's two terms, he had 364 orders, George W. Bush signed 291 over eight years, and Barack Obama issued 276. Donald Trump signed 220 executive orders in his single term in office.