Speaking during the Monday, June 17 White House Press Briefing, KJP was asked about the videos of President Joe Biden that have been going around the airwaves and internet. Responding, she alleged that the video of Biden on the stage was a “cheap fakes video” meant to incorrectly give the impression that Biden is older and frailer than he really is. She then appeared on MSNBC on Tuesday, June 18 and doubled down on that “cheap fakes” claim.
She said, during that appearance on MSNBC with host Nicolle Wallace, that it is “insulting” to those who watch the videos and are concerned about the state of the president’s cognitive and physical health after seeing him seemingly struggle to get into cars or make repeated gaffes and stumble over his words while trying to read off the teleprompter.
KJP said, speaking to Wallace, “It’s also very insulting to the folks, the viewers who are watching it. And so we believe we have to call that out. We’ve been calling it ‘cheap fakes.’ That is something that came directly from the media outlets in calling it that, the fact-checkers and calling it that. And so we’re certainly going to be really, really clear about that as well. And calling it out from where we are, from where we stand.”
Continuing, she spoke about the paratrooper incident, saying, “I think there is so much misinformation, disinformation as we’ve been talking about. You talked about the video of the president wandering. And it’s not true. Right? The president wasn’t wandering. He was talking to a parachuter that was right in front of him. And what you saw is the Republican Party really manipulating what was being said and what was being seen by the American people.”
She then alleged that the videos were promulgated in “bad faith,” saying, “And instead of talking about the president’s performance in office, and what I mean by that is his legislative wins, what he’s been able to do for the American people across the country, we’re seeing these deepfakes, these manipulated videos. And it is, again, done in bad faith.”
KJP also said, when asked when how preparation for the debate is going, “I’m going to be really mindful because the debate is part of what the campaign putting forth and leading on, so I got to be careful as a federal employee to not speak to that directly. Look, I think one of the things that I will say, and I will say proudly, is that this is a president that wants to always, regardless of it’s a debate stage or not, talk about the issues and there’s a real contrast here if we think about what extreme Republicans are trying to do and what this president is trying to do.”
Watch her here:
When making the original “cheap fake” comment, KJP said, “Yeah. We, and I think you all have called this the ‘cheap fakes video,’ and that’s exactly what they are. They are cheap fakes video.”Continuing, she alleged, “They are done in bad faith. And, some of your news organizations, have, have been very clear, have stressed that these right-wing, the right-wing critics of the president have a credibility problem, because the fact-checkers have repeatedly caught them pushing misinformation, disinformation.”
She then said, “And so we see this and this is something coming from from your, your part of the world calling them cheap fakes and misinformation. And, I’ll quote The Washington Post, where they wrote they wrote about this and they said how Republicans use misleading videos to attack Biden in a 24 hour period. And to their credit, we have a conservative Washington Examiner, did call them out as well, calling out the New York Post.”
She concluded by saying, “Ironically, several recent cheap fakes actually attack the president for thanking troops, for thanking troops. That is what they’re attacking the president for, both in Normandy. This happened and again in Italy. And, I think that it tells you everything that we need to know about how, how desperate, how desperate Republicans are here. And, instead of talking about the president’s performance in office. And what I mean by that is his legislative wins, what he’s been able to do for the American people across the country. We’re seeing these deepfakes, these manipulated videos, and it is, again, done in bad faith.”
Watch her here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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