evidence: President Joe Biden claimed he cut the federal debt by $1.7 trillion within his first two years in office during remarks delivered on Aug. 16, the anniversary of the Inflation Act. [...] Biden claimed during a speech on Aug. 16 that he cut the federal deficit by $1.7 trillion before saying he cut the debt by $1.7 trillion. Biden said,"Unlike the last president, in my first two years in office, we actually cut the federal debt, the deficit, by $1.7 trillion. The first two years — we cut the debt by $1.7 trillion." [...] The claim that Biden decreased the deficit is also misleading. While the deficit for fiscal year 2022 is $1.6 trillion, down from $2.77 trillion in 2021 according to Fiscal Data, the cut was mainly due a decrease in spending from the COVID-19 pandemic.