Fact-checkers report that images of empty store shelves are miscaptioned

Multiple miscaptioned photos of empty store shelves are from different years and places than their captions state, according to The Associated Press, Reuters, PolitiFact and Snopes. The images in question claim to be taken in October 2021 in US grocery stores, but most predate President Biden’s presidency with some having been taken in different countries, according to the same fact-checkers.

A social media post claiming to share images of grocery store shelves during Trump and Biden’s presidencies is misleading. The “Trump” photo was taken in Australia in 2012; the “Biden” one was shot after a 2018 South Carolina hurricane.

Alongside hashtags like #BidenEmptyShelves and #BareShelvesBiden, some social media users have shared miscaptioned images that are unrelated to the October 2021 global supply chain shortages.

What people are saying?

Jenell Cremeans There were a lot of groceries I couldn’t get during TFG term due to panic buying and now during Biden due to the shipping/worker crisis… all due to TFG’s mishandling of the pandemic!

James_ I’ve been to my local Kroger store. There are no empty shelves. At least, not more so than usual pre-pandemic. And considering that’s the same place that kept experiencing a shortage of TP in early 2020, I have no reason to believe our area would have been spared.