Biden's Numbers: A Mixed Bag

As our regular readers know, we have been tracking the nation’s progress — or lack thereof, in some cases — for nearly 10 years, since October 2012, when we introduced a feature we called “Obama’s Numbers.” 

Every three months, we updated Obama's Numbers, which was followed by Trump's Numbers and, more recently, Biden’s Numbers, which debuted in January.

This week, we published our first quarterly update of Biden's Numbers. 

These stories tend to be a mixed bag for presidents and full of interesting -- sometimes eye-popping -- statistics. 

Consider this: For the most recent 12 months on record, ending in February, apprehensions at the southern border totaled 2,079,543. That’s a whopping 309% higher than the average during Trump’s last year in office.

Or this: The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services has grown by more than 34% under President Joe Biden, and it's on pace to exceed $1 trillion for the first time in history in 2022.  

But there's also the fact that the economy regained 7.9 million jobs, the unemployment rate fell to 3.6%, and the percentage of Americans without health insurance dropped by 1.4 points. 

For more about these and other key statistical measures, read "Biden's Numbers (First Quarterly Update)."

Reader: Social Security recipients receive in $1657 in the month of April cost-of-living raise. This is a true fact!

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: There was no change in benefits in April; the change occurred in January.

Every year, Social Security adjusts benefits based on changes in the Consumer Price Index. In October, the Social Security Administration announced that the cost-of-living increase would be 5.9% for 2022. 

According to an SSA fact sheet, the average monthly payment for all retired workers will increase from $1,565 to $1,657 -- which is the number you reference in your email. 

However, the change in benefits took effect in January of this year -- not in April -- according to a Social Security FAQ on the 2022 increase.

"The increase will begin with benefits that Social Security beneficiaries receive in January 2022," the FAQ says. 

So, there will be no change in April. The cost-of-living adjustment has already taken effect. 

Wrapping Up

Here's what else we've got for you this week:

• "Distorted Graphic in Georgia Governor Race": When it comes to political images, seeing shouldn’t always be believing. Case in point is an image recently tweeted by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp that is misleadingly presented to make his polling advantage over Republican rival David Perdue appear larger than it actually is in a hypothetical general election matchup with Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams. 
• "COVID-19 Vaccines Reduce Hospitalization and Death Rates, Contrary to Social Media Claims": Those who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 are more prone to serious illness and are dying at higher rates than those who are vaccinated. But partisan social media accounts, including a post by a member of former President Donald Trump’s campaign legal team, continue to misleadingly suggest the vaccines are unnecessary and discourage their use.
• "TV Ad Attacking Brian Kemp Makes Unsubstantiated Georgia Election Claim": The Georgia secretary of state’s office is investigating a conservative watchdog group’s claims of illegal “ballot harvesting” in the state during the November 2020 general election and a special election runoff in January 2021. But the pending investigation is not evidence that “widespread illegal ballot harvesting” elected Georgia’s two Democratic U.S. senators, as a conservative super PAC’s TV ad claims.
• "Social Media Posts Misrepresent Tennessee Bill Allowing Common Law Marriage": A Tennessee bill is aimed at excluding same-sex couples from proposed common law marriage contracts. Social media posts misleadingly claim the bill would allow child marriage and “legalize pedophilia.” The bill initially omitted a minimum age, but was amended on April 6 to say individuals must be at least 18 years old.
• "Donald Trump Jr. Spreads His Father’s False Russia-Related Claims on Facebook": Former President Donald Trump repeated false claims about a Russian natural gas pipeline, U.S. energy production and the 2020 U.S. presidential election in a four-minute video clip posted to Facebook by his eldest son, Donald Jr. YouTube removed the full video from its platform for spreading misinformation.
• "Zelensky and Soros Aren’t Cousins, Contrary to Social Media Claim": Conspiracy theories aimed at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have been circulating on social media since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. One recent example, falsely attributed to a “Pentagon official,” is the unfounded claim that Zelensky is the cousin of billionaire philanthropist George Soros. 
• "Josh Mandel Campaign Ad Was Not Photoshopped, Contrary to Social Media Posts": In a campaign ad, Josh Mandel, a Republican Senate candidate from Ohio, shared an image of himself as a Marine with a group of Black troops. Social media posts falsely claim that Mandel photoshopped his head onto the body of a Black Marine. The Mandel campaign denied the claim and provided the media with a copy of the original image.

• "Ensayos clínicos no encuentran aumento en mortalidad entre pacientes con COVID-19 tratados con remdesivir, al contrario de lo que afirman en redes sociales": Remdesivir es el único medicamento antiviral aprobado por la Administración de Alimentos y Medicamentos de Estados Unidos para tratar el COVID-19. Pero un quiropráctico retirado afirma engañosamente en un videoclip que se viralizó en las redes sociales que el fármaco está “matando a la gente”. Estudios han demostrado que el remdesivir puede resultar en una recuperación más rápida para pacientes hospitalizados.