Right-wingers embrace White House ‘cheap fakes’ insult—share the worst clips of Biden they can find
Conservatives are sharing clips of President Joe Biden looking goofy, confused, or feeble after the White House called the framing of one video of Biden at the G7 summit wandering away from world leaders during a group photo-op an example of a “cheap fake.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed at a press conference that viral clips like the G7 one are being shared in bad faith.
"They are 'cheap fakes' videos, they are done in bad faith … Instead of talking about the president’s performance in office," Jean-Pierre said. "We’re seeing these deep fakes, these manipulated videos.”
In the G7 video, Biden appears to wander away towards nothing, before Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni taps his arm to pull him back into a group shot with other world leaders. A different angle of the scene shows Biden was walking over to some skydivers who he says something to before giving them a thumbs up.
White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates called out the New York Post over their framing of the clip, saying it was a “lie.”
But that wasn’t the only recent video the White House was forced to defend. A video of Biden and former President Barack Obama at a fundraiser sparked a similar response, as well as a clip of Biden allegedly freezing at a Juneteenth celebration.
In response to the video of Biden and Obama, Bates also called it a “cheap fake.”
Now, Bates and Jean-Pierre’s comments are being flipped back by conservative posters with a wealth of clips of Biden looking shaky, befuddled, or out of sorts.
“New 'cheap fake' just dropped,” posted @bonchieredstate on X above a clip of Biden mocking a media scrum shouting questions over each other to him at the White House by making a garbled fast-paced noise before laughing at his own joke.
“I hope they keep trying to push that narrative, I really do,” posted @Mt2Aguy.
The Republican National Committee’s X account shared that same clip on Monday, leading many conservative posters to jokingly question whether it was a “cheap fake” too.
Other accounts shared videos of Biden taking a tumble, a common theme highlighted by critics of the president on the left and the right to drive home the point that they think he’s too old to do the job reliably.
“Reminder: This isn’t a ‘cheap fake,’” posted @joma_gc over one video of Biden taking a spill in 2023 at a U.S. Air Force Academy graduation.
“Here’s ~ 2 mins of ‘cheap fake’ footage of Joe Biden. Definitely do not share this,” posted @therealZNO with a minute and a half compilation of Biden’s spills attached.
Some posters were sympathetic to Biden’s perceived feebleness, with one comparing him to Gerald Ford, another president known for falling down steps now and again.
“I have terrible back pain and I trip all the time,” wrote @bartnbeka after making the Ford comparison. “Maybe he’s got arthritis. In no way do I think this has anything to do with being capable of running our country.”
But others kept up the pile-on.
“Is Joe buffering again or is this another ‘cheap fake?’” asked Fox commentator Tomi Lahren over a clip of Biden losing his train of thought during a ceremony today announcing a path to citizenship for undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens.
"Another 'DEEP FAKE' by 'right wingers' here. Nothing to see here at all. Biden is perfectly normal," replied a user sarcastically.
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