Attempt to critique Biden economy actually shows 2017 video from London | Fact check

Andre Byik, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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The claim: Video of lone Black Friday shopper illustrates weak economy under Biden

A Nov. 25 Instagram video (direct link, archive link) shows one man entering an electronics store where photographers are waiting.

"Swarm of Black Friday shoppers ready to spend their money in Biden's 'thriving economy,'" the video's caption reads.

The post was liked more than 22,000 times in six days.

More from the USA TODAY Fact-Check Team:

Our rating: False

This post is wrong on both elements of the claim. The video was filmed in 2017 before President Joe Biden was elected president. It also shows a Black Friday sales event that happened in the U.K., not the U.S.

Video predates Biden's presidency, was filmed at an electronics store in England

The Independent, a British news organization, featured the video of the shopper in a 2017 article with the headline, "Black Friday 2017: Assembled media on Oxford Street disappointed to find just one man waiting outside shop."

The article states the video shows a Black Friday sales event at Currys PC World on Oxford Street in London, where news media had gathered "but were left disappointed to find just one shopper waiting outside."

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A BBC News journalist also shared the video of the shopper in a 2017 post on Twitter, now X.

"And the doors are open.... the rush came and went (quickly)," the journalist Frankie McCamley wrote in the post.

So the video has nothing to do with Biden, as it's the wrong country and occurred before he assumed office in January 2021. U.S. data, meanwhile, shows sales growth this year.

USA TODAY reported shoppers spent a record $9.8 billion at U.S. online retailers on Black Friday in 2023, an increase of 7.5% over last year's record-setting mark of $9.12 billion.

The Instagram user who shared the video did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Associated Press and PolitiFact also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video of lone Black Friday shopper is from 2017 in London | Fact check