Fact check: Did Biden really board an empty plane after prisoner swap leaving Kamala Harris confused?

PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY, MARYLAND: US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris greeted American detainees Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva upon their release by Russia in a landmark prisoner exchange on Thursday, August 1.

Accompanied by Harris and other senior US officials, President Biden welcomed the returnees at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Minutes after Gershkovic, Whelan, and Kurmasheva disembarked, Joe Biden climbed into the flight and reappeared two minutes later, and resumed his conversation with the liberated prisoners and their relatives.

The whole sequence left social media confused as trolls began to highlight the president's strange behavior that seemingly left Harris confused. 

Claim: Joe Biden has no idea what he was doing on that plane

Multiple social media accounts circulated a video claiming that Joe Biden entered an empty airplane without cause, while other officials and ministers waited outside.

“Joe Biden climbed back up the stairs of an airplane he wasn't supposed to be on as Kamala Harris and the Secret Service watched in disbelief. He clearly has no idea where he is or what he's doing,” read a post online.

The RNC Research account also wrote on X. “Kamala watches Biden shuffle aimlessly across the tarmac and nearly trip up the stairs of the plane (from which the passengers had long disembarked). This is the obvious decline Kamala covered up in her thirst for power — the scandal of the century.”

The video showing Joe Biden entering what appears to be an "empty plane" has become widely popular on social media, eliciting a variety of responses from the online community.

Fact check: False

Snopes has confirmed that the plane was not empty when Joe Biden boarded it; instead, he entered the aircraft to engage with the individuals who contributed to the return of the three released prisoners.

White House reveals Joe Biden did not board an 'empty plane'

"President Biden wanted to personally thank the flight crew who brought these brave individuals home to their families," White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates revealed to DailyMail.com when asked about the president's actions.

Bates also criticized the RNC Research account for 'being weird' as he stated in his tweet: "@POTUS was personally thanking the flight crew who brought these brave individuals home to their families. Most Americans are putting partisanship aside to welcome this outstanding news for our country. Y'all should join them. Don't be weird."