Facebook hit back at Biden, saying the White House is looking for ‘scapegoats for missing their vaccine goals’

• President Biden said platforms like Facebook are “killing people” with vaccine misinformation.
• Facebook defended itself and said the White House was looking for “scapegoats.”
• The White House failed to reach its goal of inoculating 70% of adults by July 4.
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Facebook pushed back at comments President Joe Biden made Friday, accusing the White House of looking for “scapegoats” after missing its vaccination targets.

When asked what his message was to platforms like Facebook, where misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine spreads, Biden said “they’re killing people.”

“The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated, and they’re killing people,” he said.

Read more: These 7 powerful people are behind Biden’s bid to break up Big Tech

In a statement provided to Insider, Facebook defended itself.

“The fact is that more than 2 billion people have viewed authoritative information about COVID-19 and vaccines on Facebook, which is more than any other place on the internet. More than 3.3 million Americans have also used our vaccine finder tool to find out where and how to get a vaccine,” a Facebook spokesperson said. “The facts show that Facebook is helping save lives. Period.”

In an additional statement provided to NBC’s Dylan Byers, a Facebook official said: “In private exchanges the Surgeon General has praised our work, including our efforts to inform people about COVID-19. The White House is looking for scapegoats for missing their vaccine goals.”

The White House fell short of its goal to have 70% of adults vaccinated by July 4, which some have blamed on vaccine hesitancy.

As of Friday, nearly 60% of American adults were fully vaccinated.