An altered image has been circulating online purporting to show a CNN headline that reports U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged billions toward educational courses for women across Africa.
The screenshot is dated Dec. 15 and timestamped 12:31pm EST. A CNN logo is viewable at the top left, with the purported article published under the “CNN politics” banner.
The fabricated headline reads: “Biden pledges $350 Billion toward computer education courses for women in Africa.”
Examples of the image can be viewed: (here), (here), (here) and (here)
A spokesperson for CNN confirmed to Reuters that no such headline was published by the outlet.
Instead, the fabricated headline was altered from an article titled “Biden says he’ll travel to Africa soon as he announces billions in new commitments,” which CNN did publish on Dec. 15 and time seen in the altered screenshot. (here)
A search through CNN’s website did not reveal any article with the fabricated headline (archive.vn/wip/jJunx), nor did archived versions of CNN’s homepage reveal the alleged report. (here), (here)
A Twitter advanced search via CNN’s official Twitter account (@CNN) did not reveal the supposed article. (archive.vn/wip/0uBPY)
A Google advanced search did not reveal any report published by any news outlet with the fabricated headline. (archive.vn/wip/OpSzD)
The fabricated article image was circulated after Biden announced on Dec. 12 that the U.S. would commit $55 billion to Africa over the next three years ahead of the U.S.-Africa summit in Washington, D.C. On Dec. 15, the U.S. president pledged an additional $2.5 billion in emergency assistance and medium- to long-term food security assistance. (here), (here)
However, Reuters did not find any reporting to suggest that the Biden administration made the alleged $350 billion pledge to computer courses for women.
A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
VERDICT
Altered. No headline reporting that the Biden administration had pledged $350 billion toward education courses for women across Africa was published by CNN.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.