The White House has accused “right-wing critics” of selectively editing videos in a “misinformation” campaign to question President Joe Biden’s mental state. This controversy has intensified as the 2024 presidential race heats up, with both Biden and his 78-year-old challenger, Donald Trump, facing scrutiny regarding their mental acuity.
In the most recent incident, Biden’s opponents circulated a video claiming that he experienced a moment of confusion at a weekend fundraiser, necessitating former President Barack Obama to lead him off stage. However, the White House responded by sharing other footage that they said depicted Biden merely pausing to take in the applause from the audience. This incident is part of a broader pattern where videos of Biden have been manipulated to cast doubt on his mental fitness.
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the issue during Monday’s daily press briefing, stating, “It tells you everything that we need to know about how desperate Republicans are here.” She criticized the edited videos as being “done in bad faith” and a deliberate attempt to mislead the public. Jean-Pierre was responding to a question about a gala hosted by Biden in Los Angeles on Saturday night, which featured prominent celebrities like George Clooney, Barbra Streisand, Julia Roberts, and late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel.
Conservative media outlets shared a clip from the event showing Biden standing on stage before Obama reached for his arm and they walked off together. The New York Post reported that Biden “appeared to freeze up” at the end of the event and “had to be led off stage” by Obama. Trump also shared the clip on his platform, Truth Social, commenting: “Is this really who you want to be your President?” However, longer clips released by Biden’s allies show him smiling and acknowledging the crowd’s applause, countering the narrative presented by the edited video.
Jean-Pierre emphasized the close relationship between Biden and Obama, describing them as friends who are like family to each other. She argued that the incident was being misrepresented and that the manipulated videos are part of a broader strategy to undermine Biden’s credibility.
The White House press secretary also addressed another recent incident where the New York Post framed a clip of Biden at a skydiving demonstration in Italy. The newspaper reported that Biden “started to wander off” during the event, with other G7 leaders needing to pull him back to focus. However, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak clarified to the Telegraph that Biden was simply “being very polite and went over to talk to all of [the parachute jumpers] individually,” before Italian PM Giorgia Meloni suggested they line up for handshakes. A community note attached to the widely shared clip on X (formerly Twitter) pointed out that the video was cropped to mislead viewers.
