Republicans’ Selective Memory of Who Was in the White House in 2020

In a recent post on his social media platform, former President Donald Trump reignited the debate over the controversial handling of Hunter Biden’s laptop story during the 2020 presidential campaign. Trump’s comments suggest a belief that “the White House” was responsible for suppressing the story, which he argues was part of a broader effort to rig the election. However, Trump seems to overlook a crucial detail: he was occupying the White House then.

As the U.S. navigated the 2020 election, the threat of foreign interference loomed large, especially in the wake of Russia’s meddling in 2016. When *The New York Post* published a story about Hunter Biden’s laptop, suspicions arose that the report could be part of a disinformation campaign. U.S. agencies and social media companies, including Facebook, temporarily restricted access to the story.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has since regretted how his company handled the situation. This week, he reiterated those sentiments in a letter to Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee. Trump’s response to this was a social media rant filled with his characteristic idiosyncrasies and a notable lack of clarity. The most striking aspect, however, was his failure to recognize that he, not Joe Biden, was president during the events he described.

This isn’t the first time a prominent Republican has seemed confused about who was in charge in 2020. Last year, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia criticized the Biden administration’s policies for a tragedy during Trump’s presidency. Similarly, Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas blamed Biden for pandemic-related policies enacted under Trump. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado pointed to Biden for school closures in 2020, overlooking that he wasn’t yet in office. Even former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has cited 2020 crime data to criticize Biden, apparently forgetting that Trump was president then.

More recently, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody accused the Biden administration of mishandling criminal justice protests in 2020, ignoring that Biden was a private citizen then.

These repeated instances of selective memory among Republicans raise questions about their understanding of recent history. As Trump continues to push his narrative of a “rigged” 2020 election, it’s worth remembering who was actually in the Oval Office when these events took place.