Claim: US President Joe Biden has invited Liberia’s President George Weah to the United States to attend the Democracy summit.
The claim is False, the Democracy meeting will be virtual and not in person.
Full Text: Aloysius Howe, a social media user on November 12, posted on his Facebook page that the United States of America President, Joe Biden has invited President George Weah to participate in the United States government First Summit for Democracy.
“The summit will be hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden and President George Weah received the invitation because of his administration’s “Consistent Commitment to Non-Violent, Free and Fair Elections.”
The 2021 summit is scheduled for December 9-10 and it is to focus on challenges, opportunities facing democracies and will provide a platform for leaders to make both individuals and collective commitments to defend democracy and human rights at home and platform and human rights at home and abroad.
It is the first of two summits that will bring together leaders from government, civil society and the private sector to set forth an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action.
Experts from government, multilateral organizations, philanthropies, civil society and the private sector to solicit bold, practical ideas will be consulted around three key themes: Defending against authoritarianism, Addressing and fighting corruption and Advancing respect for human rights.
The post attracted 251 comments and 62 shares from Facebook users.
Verification: US Ambassador Michael McCarthy in his monthly press roundtable announced the summit.
On Liberia’s selection, the U.S. Envoy said the last three presidential elections, the peaceful transfer of power in 2017 and the government’s consistent commitment to nonviolent, free and fair elections exemplify why Liberia was invited.
Speaking further, he noted that the Summit for Democracy is not a celebration for world leaders to congratulate themselves on a job well done.
“It is a call to renewed action, because Democracies by their nature, are constant work in progress, very much including our own,” he said.
“United States’ President Joe Biden will host the virtual summit for leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector to set forth an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle through collective action the greatest threats faced by democracies today.”, said Ambassador McCarthy.
The State Department website and the White House published that the summit will be done virtually instead of in person.
When the claim was posted the user was asked if the summit was in-person or virtual, the poster said it is in-person and not virtual
.
Conclusion: Though Liberia is invited for the December 2021 Summit, the claim that President Weah was invited to attend the meeting in-person is False.
