Facts Matter: World leaders have taken rides in 'the Beast'

President Joe Biden, during a recent trip to meet with North American leaders in Mexico, rode with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the U.S. presidential limousine.

Some social media users claimed this was the first time that happened.

"President Biden and past US presidents travel the world and are met by host leaders, but the protocol is that POTUS always rides alone or with family/staff in the Beast," a Twitter user wrote. "Tonight in Mexico there's a break in that protocol with President Lopez Obrador aboard the presidential car."

But López Obrador is not the first world leader to ride in the limousine, referred to as "the Beast," according to the Associated Press. There is not a protocol that states a president must travel in the vehicle with only his family and staff.

Based on news reports, other world leaders have ridden along with the president in the limousine.

President Donald Trump, in 2017, shared a ride in the limo with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and with former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Florida. In 2010, President Barack Obama rode in the Beast with then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Crossover votes on nominees

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman appointed to the court, was recognized along with other Black leaders on Martin Luther King Jr. Day last week.

Some social media users claimed Jackson's appointment was determined by only Democrats.

"Every single Republican blocked Ketanji Brown Jackson's SCOTUS appointment and (did) everything they could to prevent the 1st African American woman from being seated," read a Jan. 16 Facebook post.

But that's not accurate. PolitiFact noted that although a majority of Republican senators voted against Jackson's appointment, three voted yes.

Jackson's nomination was confirmed by a 53-47 vote in the Senate on April 7, 2022. Voting to confirm, along with all 50 Democrats, were Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah.

The Facebook post also claimed that every Republican senator voted to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018.

This is also false. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana didn't vote, and Murkowski voted present. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, along with most Republicans, voted yes. Kavanaugh was confirmed on a 50-48 vote.

Bluetooth didn't cause shock

A disturbing video showing a man getting an electric shock on a train platform is being shared on social media, along with the false claim it was caused by Bluetooth earphones.

"AVOID using Bluetooth earpieces close to HIGH-TENSION electrical facilities & cables eg railway stations. The brain might be struck directly by electrical current from the cables precipitating quick death," read a tweet that included the video.

But Bluetooth had nothing to do with this incident, according to Reuters.

In the video, Sujan Singh Sardar, a traveling ticket examiner, is at the Kharagpur railway station in India talking with another man when a live wire falls on his head. News magazine India Today reported Sardar, who was alive and in stable condition, was injured by decorative wires that fell from the platform. There is nothing about Bluetooth headphones in the report.

A spokesperson for the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection told Reuters the radio-frequency electromagnetic fields used by Bluetooth devices are not strong enough to harm people.

"As a result, the video shared on Twitter, which appears to show someone being electrocuted, will not occur as a result of normal environmental exposure to EMFs, such as from Bluetooth, trains, or even the combination of Bluetooth and trains," the spokesperson said.

Inaccuracy on 'translation'

A video making the rounds on social media shows a user entering the word "coronavirus," broken up with spaces as "cor ona virus," into Google Translate and the result shows, in Latin, the translation is "heart attack virus."

But this claim is false.

"This equation (cor ona virus = heart [attack] virus) is little more than subliterate nonsense," Columbia University associate professor Marcus Folch told the AP.

Folch said "corona" in Latin translates to "crown" and "cor" translates to "heart." "Virus" translates to a slimy liquid or poison, and "ona" isn't a word in Latin.

A Google spokesperson told the AP that since "cor ona virus" isn't a phrase in Latin, the tool translates each piece separately looking for root words.

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