The CDC report did not make the same claim as the president. It suggested the gap between gun-related deaths and car accidents could close in the future, not that the gap had already closed.
Amid national debate about firearms, President Joe Biden was caught misleading the public about the number of children dying from guns. He said firearms are the "number-one killer."
In a public address Thursday, the president asserted more children had been killed by firearms than in car accidents.
"According to new data just released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, guns are the number-one killer of children in the United States of America," Biden said.
Biden’s statement is only true if people ages 18 or 19 are also considered children. According to the CDC, Biden's source, the number of gun-related deaths between those two ages exceeds the number of deaths between ages one and 17 combined.
When pressed on the statistic, the White House said it used a study evaluating "children" deaths from ages one-24.
The CDC report did not make the same claim as the president. It suggested the gap between gun-related deaths and car accidents could close in the future, not that the gap had already closed.
"The gap between vehicular deaths and firearm deaths is narrowing among 1- to 17-year-olds, and may close entirely, according to the CDC’s provisional and incomplete 2021 data," report says.
As the president and key Democratic leaders continue to advocate for stronger restrictions on gun ownership, Biden will have to find more accurate ways of convincing the nation.
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