Video falsely links Biden comment to Texas wildfires conspiracy theory | Fact check

Andre Byik, USA TODAY
·4 min read
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The claim: Biden admitted some houses are spared from wildfires because of roof color

A March 1 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows President Joe Biden flanked by law enforcement agents at a press conference.

"Fly over these areas that are burned to the ground you'll see in the midst of 20 homes that are just totally destroyed, one home sitting there because they had the right roof on it," Biden says in the video.

The on-screen text reads, "He just admitted the color of the roof makes a difference to whether the (house burns)! Blue roofs don't burn! Direct Energy Weapons!"

The post's caption includes text that reads, "Did #biden just slip up and admit #dew's were #used in #hawaii," a reference to a conspiracy theory that claims many natural disasters are actually caused by directed energy weapons.

The post was liked more than 900 times in six days.

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Our rating: False

Biden did not admit a link between roof colors and fire risk, or mention roof colors at all. He suggested homes have a better chance of surviving a wildfire if they are built using up-to-date construction standards.

Video misconstrues Biden's remarks on destructive wildfires

The video in the Instagram post shows Biden speaking at a news conference in Brownsville, Texas, about wildfires burning across the state's panhandle on Feb. 29, the same day he met with federal immigration agents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

ABC News footage of the conference shows Biden did not say there is a connection between the color of a home's roof and wildfire risk. Instead, he lamented the number of wildfire disasters he's toured since becoming president and suggested that climate change is providing the conditions for more severe wildfires in the West.

"Well, my administration is going to keep building on the progress we’ve made fighting the climate crisis. And we’re going to keep – help folks rebuild themselves in the wake of these disasters," Biden said, according to the news footage and a White House transcript. "And we rebuild to the standards that are up – the up-to-date standards and building codes and the rest. Because a lot of – if you fly over these areas that are burned to the ground, you’ll see, in the midst of 20 homes that are just totally destroyed, one home sitting there because it had the right roof on it."

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the state's firefighting agency, notes that the roof is one of the most vulnerable areas of a home because its large surface area is susceptible to embers and flame. The agency recommends using tiles, metal or fiberglass asphalt composition shingles when installing a new roof.

Fact check: Maui fires spark baseless conspiracy theories about directed energy weapons

The Instagram post recirculates a previously debunked conspiracy theory that the deadly 2023 Hawaii wildfires were caused by directed energy weapons. Those weapons use concentrated electromagnetic energy to destroy enemy targets, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

The post also recycles a related and also false conspiracy theory that blue items were spared by the directed energy weapons, which supposedly can be programmed to avoid certain hues. But before-and-after photographs published by the BBC show that buildings of all colors, including blue ones, were destroyed.

An expert on directed energy weapons, Iain Boyd, director of the Center for National Security Initiatives at the University of Colorado, Boulder, told the Associated Press that a beam powerful enough to start a large fire would burn through material of any color.

An investigation into the cause and origin of the "wind-driven wildfires" in Hawaii is ongoing, according to a Feb. 8 post by the U.S. Fire Administration. A utility company acknowledged its role in sparking the Texas wildfire, USA TODAY reported March 7.

The Instagram user who shared the video did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Politifact also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video misrepresents Biden wildfire remarks in Texas | Fact check