Did Biden crap his pants while meeting the Pope
Executive summary
There is no credible evidence that President Joe Biden "crapped his pants" while meeting Pope Francis; the claim originated as social-media rumor and was debunked by multiple fact‑checkers and news outlets [1] [2] [3]. The story spread through trolling, satire and conjecture about the unusually long Vatican meeting, not through verified reporting or photographic proof [4] [5].
1. The origin and anatomy of the rumor
The allegation began as gossip and social‑media posts after Biden’s October 2021 meeting with Pope Francis, with users pointing to the meeting’s length and circulating memes and images as “evidence” without provenance [4] [5]. The conjecture—phrased in hashtags like #poopypantsBiden and repeated by some commentators—relied on hearsay (“word around Rome”) rather than primary documentation or eyewitness accounts published by reputable outlets [4] [5].
2. What fact‑checking found
Established fact‑checkers concluded the claim is unsubstantiated: PolitiFact flagged circulating photos and captions as unfounded and rated related posts Pants on Fire after tracing video and image timelines that showed Biden wearing the same suit throughout the visit [1]. Snopes similarly reviewed the social chatter and found no evidence supporting an “accident,” explaining that the trend was based on idle gossip rather than videos, photos or credible news reporting [2]. Other outlets that examined the thread reached the same conclusion: the claim lacks verifiable source material [3].
3. How the story spread despite no evidence
The rumor proliferated because it fit existing narratives and tropes about an elderly president and because it was amplified by partisan figures, trolls and comedy or shock‑content producers; for example, tabloid and shock sites amplified the allegation while an episode listing on IMDb reflects how the claim became fodder for entertainment and fringe commentary [6] [4]. Online message boards and partisan sites repeated the “word around Rome” framing, which functioned as an unverifiable attribution that sustained the rumor even as mainstream fact‑checkers debunked it [5] [7].
4. Why the Vatican meeting length mattered to the rumor narrative
Observers noted that the Biden‑Pope meeting lasted longer than some past papal meetings, and bad‑faith actors used that fact to insinuate something untoward had occurred; the Vatican’s timeline and comparisons to prior meetings were cited in the chatter but did not constitute proof of any bodily accident [4]. Fact‑checkers emphasized that an extended private meeting and subsequent photo exchanges are normal diplomatic variances and do not imply the personal incident alleged on social media [1] [3].
5. The verdict and the politics of rumor‑making
The measured conclusion across multiple independent checks is straightforward: there is no evidentiary basis for the claim that President Biden soiled himself at the Vatican [1] [2] [3]. Alternative viewpoints exist only as unverified rumors repeated by partisan commentators and online trolls seeking viral engagement or to demean a political figure; those sources—tabloid sites, message boards and satirical episodes—cannot substitute for documented reporting [6] [4] [5]. Reporting limitations: available sources reviewed the rumor’s provenance and amplification but did not produce any primary, credible eyewitness or medical confirmation that would change the conclusion [1] [2].