Trump team mocks president
White House: Biden videos are “cheap fakes”
18.06.2024, 10:37 a.m.
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The US Republicans are doing their best to portray Biden as unfit for the presidency before the elections. Videos are now appearing on the Internet that are supposed to prove the 81-year-old’s decline. According to the White House spokeswoman, however, the clips are manipulated.
The White House has criticized videos of US President Joe Biden distributed by the opposition Republicans as “cheap fakes.” The recordings, which supposedly show Biden’s mental and physical deterioration, were misleadingly edited and manipulated, said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre. The clips are “cheap fakes.” “That says everything about how desperate the Republicans are,” said Jean-Pierre.
In recent days, media outlets such as the New York Post and an official Republican account on an online network have published several video clips in which Biden appears confused. In one of the videos, which was also mocked by former US President Donald Trump, the 81-year-old president appears to be moving away from the other heads of state and government in a disorientated manner during a skydiving demonstration at the G7 summit in Italy. According to Jean-Pierre, however, the footage was edited misleadingly.
Rather, Biden moved to wish the skydivers good luck with a gesture. “This has been thoroughly verified (…), including by conservative media,” the spokeswoman emphasized. “If you let the video run a little longer, you can see (…) what happened.” NBC also refuted the claims. The broadcaster’s own recording posted online from a different angle showed Biden interacting with the skydivers just a few meters away.
Regular health checks
Another clip circulating in right-wing media and Republican circles showed Biden in a close-up in the White House. The president can be seen standing quietly during a concert while world leaders danced nearby. Biden’s opponents want to see this as a state of mental confusion. “The president stood there and listened to the music, but he didn’t dance,” Karine Jean-Pierre said. “I didn’t know that not dancing was a health problem,” she added.
Biden’s age has become one of the main points of attack in Trump’s campaign ahead of the presidential election in November. Almost every day, Trump’s team sends out videos in which Biden stumbles or stutters, appears exhausted or disoriented. At 78, however, the likely Republican presidential candidate is only three years younger than his rival Biden. Unlike Trump, as head of state, Biden must undergo regular medical tests, the results of which are published.