President Biden shared an image of what appears to be a letter from a child informing him that “men are getting more money then [sic] girls.”
On Equal Pay Day, Biden posted a photo of the letter from a child named Charlotte. The letter was written in what appears to be a child’s handwriting along with misspelled words.
“Dear presitent Biden: I just wanted to tell something not fair to ladies,” reads Charlotte’s letter.
“Men are getting more money then girls. I think you should fix this since your the presitent,” the letter reads. “Even I’m a child and I think we should do something.”
“Charlotte, I couldn’t agree more,” Biden responded to the letter.
“Women lose thousands of dollars each year, and hundreds of thousands over a lifetime, because of gender and racial wage gaps,” Biden continued. “I’m committed to building an economy where my daughters have the same rights and opportunities as my sons.”
Charlotte, I couldn’t agree more.
Women lose thousands of dollars each year, and hundreds of thousands over a lifetime, because of gender and racial wage gaps.
I’m committed to building an economy where my daughters have the same rights and opportunities as my sons. pic.twitter.com/0vholYMTaR
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 14, 2023
Twitter users criticized the President’s post by opining that the letter appeared to be inauthentic and manufactured.
“Yes, a 4 year old girl named Charlotte is writing the president letters about her concern with the ‘gender pay gap,'” wrote one user. “Alex, I’ll take stuff that never happened for $800.”
“Which one of your staffers is named charlotte?” asked another user.
Other users criticized Biden and Charlotte’s letter in light of the administration’s push for transgender identifying women in biological women’s spaces.
“Poor Charlotte will be competing against men in any sports she decides to join or her parents put her in thanks to Biden,” said one user. “Let’s hope she doesn’t end up with a concussion.”
The letter references the claim of a gender pay gap which cites women earn an average of 82% of the income men earn, according to the Pew Research Center. Those referring to the gender pay gap often cite sexism for a perceived income inequality between the genders.
However, critics of the gender pay gap suggest the difference in income between men and women is relative to other factors including career choice. Critics also note child birth and other factors related to women taking time away from the workforce.
A post from the White House commemorating Equal Pay Day stated, “Pay disparities add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost income over a lifetime – undermining financial security for women and families across our nation. On Equal Pay Day and every day, our Administration is committed to fighting for equal pay for all Americans.”
