Joe Biden did not have the legal authority to declassify documents while serving as a senator or vice president.
Posted by The Charlie Kirk Show, Checked
- Sources
- 5 contradict1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 85%
The Charlie Kirk ShowJul 30, 2026
Multiple fact-checkers (Snopes, PolitiFact, USA Today, Poynter) and the CRS, citing Obama's Executive Order 13526, establish that the vice president had authority to classify and declassify information, contradicting the claim that Biden lacked this authority as VP.
What was said
… On one hand, it's like, listen, Joe Biden's old, he's senile, who cares? On the other hand, President Trump had his home raided for the exact same accusation, but it was much worse, actually, because, as you made the point earlier, Joe Biden was a senator and a vice president. He didn't have the ability to simply wave a magic wand and declassify any of this stuff, and he did it at such a point where his brain, you know, I guess ostensibly, would have been more acute, his memory would have been sharper. He knew what he was doing. …
The Charlie Kirk Show · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. Snopes and PolitiFact both rule the claim that VPs lack declassification power false, citing the Obama-era executive order giving the vice president original classification and declassification authority.[1][2]
Contradicts. USA Today and Poynter report that legal scholars and the order confirm Biden had the power to declassify documents as vice president, and Poynter explicitly rates Biden's 'no right to declassify' statement as False.[4][5]
Contradicts. The Congressional Research Service states that under E.O. 13,526 the Vice President may classify information and that officials can be delegated declassification authority, consistent with VP authority.[3]
Context. Experts note the scope of VP power to direct other agencies to declassify material has never been tested, and VPs rarely exercise this authority, so a narrow kernel of ambiguity exists.[1][2][6]
Context. The claim's extraction matches the passage; the post's 'magic wand' remark is the speaker's characterization of Biden's authority and the claim is graded on that reading.
Sources
6 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 1 primary, 3 not rated
- 1Do Vice Presidents Not Have Authority To Declassify Documents?snopes.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts, context
- 2Trump makes false claim on VP’s right to declassifypolitifact.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts, context
- 3Rules and Statutes Relevant to Safeguarding Classified Materialscongress.gov · primary source · cited for: contradicts
- 4Fact check: Biden did have the authority to declassify documents as vice presidentusatoday.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 59 Trump claims about the Mar-a-Lago classified documents probe, fact-checked - Poynterpoynter.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 6The Vice President's Declassification Authorityfas.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Joe Biden took classified documents while he was a senator.True
- Joe Biden took classified documents while he was vice president.True
- Joe Biden disclosed national security information to his ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer.True
- Joe Biden referenced classified information located at his Virginia home in tapes recorded in 2016 and 2017.True
- Mark Zwonitzer did not have a security clearance when Joe Biden spoke to him.True