This year, Hanukkah starts at nightfall on December 25,  but last night the White House hosted a Hanukkah holiday reception at the White House. President Biden made remarks, including this boast:

But I know this year’s Hanukkah falls on the hearts that are still very heavy.  It’s the second Hanukkah since the horrors of October 7th.  Over a thousand slaughtered, hundreds taken hostage, unspeakable sexual violence, and so more.  The trauma of that day and its aftermath is still raw and ongoing.

I’ve gotten over a hundred hostages out, and I will not stop until I get every single one of them home — every single.

As with many things Joe Biden boasts about, it is not clear where he’s getting his numbers.

From the context, it would seem that Biden is talking about the hostages held by Hamas, with no specification about which nationality. According to the Washington Post, “a total of 78 hostages were freed in an exchange deal with Israel for Palestinian prisoners; 27 foreign and dual nationals were released outside the deal. Israel has rescued eight hostages in military operations.” Sixty-two hostages are believed to still be alive, but Hamas does not give updates on their condition.

Edan Alexander, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Keith Siegel are American citizens believed to be alive in Hamas custody. The bodies of Itay Chen, Gadi Haggai, Judi Weinstein Haggai and Omer Neutra remain in Hamas captivity.

As of the beginning of August, when announcing a deal to release certain Russian prisoners in exchange for three American citizens and one American green-card holder, Biden boasted, “my administration has now brought home over 70 such Americans, many of whom were in captivity since before I took office.” That’s total, from around the world, not just from Russia or Hamas captivity.

It is unclear how or when that number jumped from “over 70” to “over a hundred,” and it’s not like Biden is ever going to take questions on this. Nor is it likely that the administration secured the release of 30 Americans in captivity and never got around to mentioning it to the public.