On August 22nd, Georgian-language Facebook accounts (1, 2, 3) circulated a video depicting the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden. The video allegedly shows Biden falling asleep during an interview, while the host urges him to wake up. In addition, the video is accompanied by the sound of snoring.
The video disseminated on social media is altered using a software and is created by combining two independent videos – singer Harry Belafonte’s 2011 interview and Joe Biden’s 2020 interview.
The left part of the video was recorded in California in 2011, during which news anchor Leyla Santiago chats with singer Harry Belafonte. Due to Harry Belafonte’s meditation and audio problems, he could not hear the anchor’s voice, which is why the journalist had to call the singer to wake up several times. Layla Santiago’s voice can also be heard a few seconds later, “This is your wake-up call, Harry.”
Screenshot: KBAK CBS
As for Biden’s video, it was taken in April 2020, during which he talked to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The fake version of the video uses a moment where Hillary Clinton is speaking, and Biden is looking down. In the original version of the video, for around 3 seconds, Biden lowers his head and then looks back at Clinton.
Screenshot: Joe Biden
The above-mentioned video was also verified by foreign fact-checking platforms. According to Snopes, the fake video was initially shared by Twitter user @damonimani. Twitter later removed the video in response to a complaint filed by the copyright holder.
Notably, the video of Joe Biden was published by Dan Scavino, the then social media director of the White House.
Dan Scavino’s post was shared by CBS Sacramento anchor John Dabkovich who noted that the video was fake. The post also states that Dabkovich was in the studio during the interview with Harry Belafonte.
Fake photo and video materials about Joe Biden have been verified by “Myth Detector” in the past as well. For more, see:
- Pornographic Video Disseminated on Facebook was Falsely Linked to Joe Biden
- Altered Photo of Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Disseminated on Facebook
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