Confused Biden clips are ‘deepfakes’ – White House

Videos showing the US president freezing up on stage and wandering off are all “manipulated,” according to press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has claimed that recent videos showing US President Joe Biden looking confused at public events have been manipulated, describing them as “cheap fakes.” 

Jean-Pierre’s comments come after several videos of Biden have gone viral on social media in recent weeks. In one clip, the president could be seen having trouble sitting down during a D-Day memorial event in France. A number of commenters suggested that the US leader was “completely lost” or having “some kind of episode.” 

Another video showed Biden standing together with G7 leaders in Italy watching a skydiving demonstration. At one point, the US president turned away and wandered off from the group, before Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took him by the hand to guide him back to the other members. 

In another clip from an LA fundraising event with former President Barack Obama and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, Biden appeared to freeze up as he was waving goodbye to the crowd. Obama could then be seen taking Biden by the hand and patting him on the back while leading him off stage. 

A clip from a White House Juneteenth concert also appeared to show the 81-year-old president awkwardly frozen as everyone around him danced to the music. 

🇺🇸Karine Jean-Pierre addresses the recent videos showing Biden in less than optimal condition.
"They are 'Cheap Fakes Videos' they are done in bad faith...
The right-wing critics of the president have a credibility problem.
Because the fact-checkers have repeatedly caught… pic.twitter.com/m8VUpfd4lW

— Attentive Media (@AttentiveCEE) June 18, 2024

Speaking to reporters during a White House Press event on Monday, Jean-Pierre stated that “we are seeing these deepfakes, these manipulated videos, and it is again, done in bad faith.” The press secretary claimed that reports on these incidents are “attacks” on Biden that demonstrate the “desperation” of Republicans who refuse to acknowledge the president’s achievements. 

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Asked to comment specifically on the incidents with Meloni and Obama, who appeared to give Biden “stage directions,” Jean-Pierre insisted that these were “cheap fakes” and that “this did not happen, in the sense of what people were saying they were seeing or what was being falsely reported.”  

She also dismissed claims that Biden had frozen during the Juneteenth concert, suggesting the president simply didn’t want to dance. “Excuse me, I did not know that not dancing was a mental health issue. That is a weird thing to flag,” Jean-Pierre said. 

According to multiple recent polls, Biden’s mental health has been a longstanding concern among American voters, many of whom believe he is mentally and physically unfit for office. A recent Wall Street Journal report also claimed that aside from his frequent public mental gaffes, Biden has shown “signs of slipping” in closed-door meetings with US lawmakers.