White House slams ‘cheapfake’ clips of Joe Biden ‘freezing’
The Hindu
White House criticizes Republicans for sharing misleading videos of President Biden's mental and physical health decline.
The White House on June 17 criticised Republicans for spreading videos purported to show President Joe Biden's mental and physical decline, saying the images had been deceptively cut and manipulated.
"It tells you everything that we need to know about how desperate Republicans are here," Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, branding the clips as "cheapfake" videos.
Outlets including the New York Post and an official Republican social media account have shared several seemingly damning short videos in recent days of the 81-year-old President.
In one video, an apparently disoriented Mr. Biden appears to wander away from fellow world leaders while watching a skydiving display during a G7 summit in Italy last week.
But Ms. Jean-Pierre said the footage was misleadingly edited, and Mr. Biden instead was moving to give a thumbs up to the parachutists.
"This was widely fact checked ... including by conservative media," she said at a media briefing, adding "if you run that tape a little bit longer than you'd see ... what was happening."
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