<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">US President Joe Biden's claim that he reduced the deficit by $1.7 trillion in a span of two years has been widely disputed by fact-checking organisations.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The analysis suggests that the reduction was primarily a consequence of the expiration of temporary pandemic-related spending measures rather than deliberate actions taken by the administration.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Washington Post, renowned for its rigorous fact-checking process, has deemed Biden's claim “highly misleading,” and other fact-checkers have also disputed its accuracy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A tweet from the verified account of US President Biden, on June 22, 2023, said: “I cut the deficit by 1.7 trillion dollars in two years – that's more than any president on record."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, according to the analysis provided by fact-checking reports, the $1.7 trillion reduction in spending touted by Biden was not a result of deliberate action taken by his administration but rather the expiration of pandemic emergency spending measures.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These spending measures had automatic expiration provisions, meaning that the reduction in the deficit occurred due to the temporary nature of the pandemic-related spending, rather than intentional efforts by the president to address the national debt.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In essence, the reduction was a consequence of the specific circumstances surrounding the pandemic emergency spending, rather than a testament to Biden's fiscal policies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Washington Post's assessment and other fact-checking organisations' findings underscore the need to scrutinize political claims made by public figures.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The reports indicate that Biden's claim of a $1.7 trillion reduction in the deficit requires further examination and context to accurately understand the role played by his administration in this decline. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>