The claim: Image shows headline saying Biden ‘exemplifies the gospel’ by pardoning son
A Dec. 3 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes an image that appears to be a screenshot of an article by The Gospel Coalition, a Christian news and commentary website.
“By Pardoning His Son Joe Biden Exemplifies The Gospel,” reads the headline of the supposed article.
Other versions of the claim circulated on Facebook, Instagram and X.
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The image is fabricated. No such article appears on The Gospel Coalition’s website, and the outlet described the image as a “hoax.”
Moore became Christianity Today editor-in-chief in 2022
President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, on Dec. 1 – months after the younger Biden was convicted of federal gun and tax charges. The president previously said he would not pardon his son but wrote in his statement announcing the pardon that “raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”
But the purported headline comparing his actions to the gospel is fabricated.
“This story is a hoax,” The Gospel Coalition editor-in-chief Collin Hansen told USA TODAY. “We never published such an article.”
Accordingly, no such article appears on The Gospel Coalition’s website.
The Facebook post lists the supposed author of the article as “Russel Moore,” an apparent misspelling of Russell Moore, a theologian who previously led the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and has written for the Christian website. His most recent article for the outlet was published in June 2022. He was named the editor-in-chief of Christianity Today in August of that year.
Fact check: Video shows hearing on DOJ memo, not Hunter Biden’s laptop
USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims related to Hunter Biden’s trial and convictions, including false assertions that an authentic image shows a statement by President-elect Donald Trump on Biden’s conviction, that Hunter Biden’s prison term was announced in December 2023 and that a video shows Hunter Biden on the same day cocaine was discovered in the White House.
USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources
- Collin Hansen, Dec. 10, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- The Gospel Coalition, accessed Dec. 9, Russell Moore
- The Gospel Coalition, accessed Dec. 9, Website search
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