This viral claim is wrong. The President's watch was a Christmas gift from the First Lady.

[demmiblue]

This viral claim is wrong. The President's watch was a Christmas gift from the First Lady.

This is a trivial one - I hope it is my last watch-related fact check - but there's generally a lot of bad info going viral from unverified accounts with moderate followings.

Link to tweet

[mr_lebowski]

1. What's REALLY wrong is anyone making a huge deal out a watch that cost in the low 1000's of dollars.

It's not like it's a $500,000 solid gold/diamond encrusted monstrosity.

You know, one like Trump would wear.

So lame of the NYT.

[malaise]

3. Thank you

some genuine assholes work in the media

[marieo1]

12. The Truth

Oh, my, you've got that right!!! They will publish anything whether it's the truth or not, they don't care!! Part of the reason we've had 4 years of a regular AH!!

[malaise]

16. It's worse than that

In the middle of a new administration trying to sort out this horrific pandemic and while everyone is coming to terms with Trump and his terrorists' attempted coup, that idiot found time to comment on a high end watch.

[cate94]

14. I ended my subscription

The reason I gave was that Biden’s watch was the last straw. Truth be told, there were several times over the past 6 months that I should have, but I procrastinated.

[Lonestarblue]

15. They're reverting back to their pattern of slamming Democrats.

A couple of years ago, the Columbia Journalism Review did an analysis of the NYT stories on Hillary’s emails in 2016 and found that “in just six days, The New York Times ran as many cover stories about Hillary Clinton’s emails as they did about all policy issues combined in the 69 days leading up to the election.”

This is the paper that thought it was perfectly fine to publish Tom Cotton’s piece calling for the US military to attack peaceful BLM protesters and prevent them from exercising their Constitutional rights, then publishes an article trying to shame President Biden for having a very nice watch. Disgusting.

[Withywindle]

19. +1

I am so tired of them being so desperate to "both sides it" that they equate a President having a mildly ritzy watch to a President raiding the Treasury to enrich himself and openly calling for racist violence and overturning a fair election. They have no moral compass.

[cwydro]

17. I doubt trump can tell time.

Certainly not analog.

[MontanaMama]

2. It is a friggin' watch.

The man is allowed to have a nice watch. OMG. Are Democrats supposed to wear burlap sacks and run around in bare feet to appease the RW? Christ on a cracker...this is nuts.

[demmiblue]

4. No kidding.

[regnaD kciN]

8. Yep...

...as I said below, that's one of the more pernicious of right-wing frames. You encounter it all the time -- if you favor policies that they would consider "socialist" (i.e. anything FDR might have come up with), you're a "hypocrite" unless you also get rid of all your possessions. (It's the same old "liberal = socialist = communist" narrative that's been a favorite of the right-wing since at least the McCarthy era.) Unfortunately, it's a pretty potent frame, because, if you can convince people that leftist policies mean you have to live a bare-bones existence, no one will want anything to do with them.

[Vinca]

5. After the brouhaha over the damn watch, I remembered the handbag Mel had on her arm

when she left the White House for the last time. It sure looked a whole lot like a Hermes and a Rolex wouldn't amount to the clasp on some of those.

[demmiblue]

9. I Googled:

It was indeed a Hermes. Wow... it costs somewhere between $50,000-$70,000, depending on the source.

[regnaD kciN]

6. I've been saying this for some time...

I'm a watch enthusiast. The watch Beau Biden is wearing here is clearly not the blue-face Rolex DateJust seen in 46's photo.

But what of it? He also owns two Omegas (the "007" Seamaster and the Speedmaster "moon watch" ), as well as an Apple Watch. He clearly likes collecting wristwatches. And while his collection isn't cheap, it's far less expensive than some guys' hobbies. As I've pointed out, all four watches I've heard of, combined, would total less than the price differential between the BMW some non-millionaire car enthusiasts regard as their prized possession versus the Toyota Camry that would get them to the same destinations just as easily. (Also, his watch collection is worth about 1/10th that of Trump's, and, as far as I can tell, the latter just used his as solid-gold status symbols as opposed to actually being interested in horology as a hobby. And I'm sure each and every one of you is right now coming up with your own jokes about Trump and "horology." )

It's part of the double-standard framing that dictates that conservatives are allowed to enjoy the finer things of life, but liberals who don't wear hairshirts and live in a homeless camp are to be considered "hypocrites." Counter to the frame conservatives would like to put on matters, the point of progressive politics is to allow everyone to enjoy good things in life, not for everyone to be reduced to a bare-bones existence.

[yourmovemonkey]

13. I don't see this as any different from a non-professional musician

owning a very nice instrument. I own a couple of very nice guitars because I love to play, and I'm certainly not wealthy.

[LakeArenal]

7. A guy who used mass transit for years and owns no stocks, can have a nice watch. Geez.

[regnaD kciN]

10. That's a good comeback...

"Hey, if you're frugal enough commute by Amtrak every day for decades, instead of spending thousands a month on a second home/apartment in D.C., you can save enough to afford a Rolex!"

[CanonRay]

11. This horseshit isn't worth 2 seconds of anyone's time.

[cwydro]

18. I only have read about it here.

Seems a big deal here, but not seeing it anywhere else.

[betsuni]

20. More "Democrats are out-of-touch wealthy corrupt elites" bullshit.