Facts Matter: Military band didn't play 'Hit the Road Jack' as Trump left office

A military band played "Hail to the Chief" on Jan. 20 at Joint Base Andrews as President Donald Trump departed Washington, D.C., ahead of President Joe Biden's inauguration.

Social media users put a different spin on the exit. Altered video posted online purported to show the Army band playing "Hit the Road Jack" as it marched outside the White House before Trump's departure.

"Perfect. Trump's last day. The Military Band right outside the White House - 'Hit The Road Jack,'" posted a Twitter user.

The audio wasn't real, according to The Associated Press. The Jan 18 video, showing the band practicing outside the White House, had been altered to add a recording of the Ohio State University Marching Band's rendition of "Hit the Road Jack."

"(The) Army Band was rehearsing the 'National Emblem' as a part of the military's precision, teamwork, and dedication to ceremonial excellence," a military spokesperson told the AP.

The original video was posted on Twitter by CNN's Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta, who wrote, "Preps for Biden inaugural ... you can hear the band playing on WH grounds."

A social media user who claimed he manipulated and posted the fake video told Newsweek magazine he doctored it on TikTok.

Harris had hand on Bible

As Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first female, Black and Asian American U.S. vice president, she rested her left hand on two Bibles held by her husband, Doug Emhoff.

But some social media users spread falsehoods about what happened.

"JUST SO YOU KNOW: She put her clutch on top of the Bible so her hand is not touching it," wrote one Facebook user the day after the inauguration.

That wasn't a purse the vice president was touching, according to PoliriFact.com. It was a Bible.

The large book on the bottom was a Bible that had belonged to former Supreme Court justice and civil-rights activist Thurgood Marshall, who died in 1993. Harris, who asked to use the Bible for her swearing in, referred to Marshall as "one of my heroes and inspirations" in her book "The Truths We Hold."

The smaller book that she touched while taking the oath of office had belonged to Regina Shelton, a woman who took care of Harris and her sister while their single mother worked late nights, according to San Francisco-based KPIX CBS news. Shelton taught the girls about Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman.

"That family Bible is what she's sworn in on for every inauguration, every swearing-in that she's had," longtime friend and campaign aide Debbie Mesloh told KPIX.

Biden didn't sign blank pages

As Biden began issuing executive orders almost immediately after taking office, some social media users falsely claimed the orders weren't valid.

A video posted on Facebook, which includes a Jan. 21 clip of Biden signing the documents, shows the camera zooming in on what appears to be a blank page as a voice-over claims, "These people are faking this!"

The video is low-quality and overexposed, washing out the writing on the white pages of the executive orders, according to Snopes.com. Besides the documents, other details in the clip appear to be deliberately lightened, including Biden's tie and Harris' outfit.

In photos of the same event released by Getty Images, close-ups clearly show writing on the executive orders the president is signing.

Nugent didn't write to Biden

A letter critical of Biden, making the rounds on social media, has been falsely attributed to rocker Ted Nugent.

A Facebook post, shared more than 1,400 times, claims, "Ted Nugent wrote Joe Biden a letter via Facebook moments ago and it is going viral fast," according to USA Today.

The letter began circulating just after the Nov. 3 election and falsely claims Democrats stole the election.

In a statement, Nugent's spokeswoman Linda Peterson said, "Mr. Nugent did NOT author the piece."

Nugent, who is a supporter of Trump, said on a radio show in April, "Donald Trump is as close to Ted Nugent as you'll ever get in politics."

• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.