The White House was forced to shut down bogus reports that a bird had pooped on President Joe Biden during an event in Menlo, Iowa that was held inside a grain silo after cameras captured a small white drop falling down on his blue suit jacket just above the pocket.
Right wing critics immediately seized on the incident and the British tabloid Daily Mail ran a piece claiming that a "feathered fiend" had relieved itself on the President.
A White House spokesperson said that it had not been bird droppings but "corn" that had fallen on the President, a statement that was backed by The Des Moines Register as well as other reporters who'd attended the event.
But the incident nonetheless empowered the Biden administration's Republican critics, particularly the Republican National Committee (RNC).
Other prominent critics, such as Donald Trump Jr. and Newsmax contributor Jenna Ellis, also weighed in, using the incident as an opportunity to lambast the President and his administration's policies.
Others jumped to the President's defense, particularly after the claim had already been fact checked by news outlets.
Biden appeared at the Iowa event to announce he’ll suspend a federal rule preventing the sale of higher ethanol blend gasoline in a bid to lower gas prices that have spiked since Russia launched its war against Ukraine.
The President's move is expected to yield only modest results. Inflation is currently at a 40-year high and has accelerated in recent months. The White House has said it would save drivers an average of 10 cents per gallon based on current prices, though only at "2,300 gas stations out of the nation’s more than 100,000," as noted by The Associated Press.
A report from the Department of Labor (DOL) showed prices for everyday goods in March spiked 8.5 percent, the worst reading since December 1981.
Biden has referred to the DOL report as "Putin's price hike," pinning the blame on Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose war with Ukraine has forced both the United States and much of Europe to reconsider their reliance on Russian energy.
