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Andrea Austria / Media Matters, Gage Skidmore via Creative Commons

Research/Study Research/Study

Right-wing media keep seizing on misleading clips of President Joe Biden from the RNC

Right-wing media have spread misleading videos of Biden to question the president’s mental and physical fitness

Written by Charis Hoard

Published

Throughout President Joe Biden’s time in office, right-wing media have shared misleading videos of him, calling into question Biden’s mental and physical fitness. These videos have often originated from the Republican National Committee’s rapid response team, which posts on social media as “RNC Research.” Right-wing media figures have repeatedly used the RNC’s deceptively edited content to claim, among other smears, that Biden is “mentally and physically unfit” to be president, that he “froze in a geriatric trance” during a fundraiser, and admitted he “sold a lot of state secrets.”

Select a Falsehood

  • Falsehood: Biden “froze in a geriatric trance” during a fundraiser (June 2024)

    • RNC Research shared a clip of a recent DNC fundraiser to claim that Biden froze on stage, causing former President Barack Obama to lead him off-stage. Though the Hollywood Reporter’s Chris Gardner had recorded and shared the clip, the RNC used it to claim “Biden freezes before Obama grabs his arm and leads him off stage. Yikes!” According to a fact check from The Daily Beast, the clip “cut most of the lead-up to the seemingly innocuous moment” showing Biden and Obama “on stage at the conclusion of a star-studded fundraiser in Hollywood, taking in the crowd’s cheers. … After they wave to the applauding crowd for nearly a minute, Obama reaches out and gently touches Biden on the arm before they walk off stage together.” [Twitter/X, 6/16/24; The Daily Beast, 6/16/24]
    • Just after the RNC Research post, the New York Post published an article repeating the claim that Biden “appeared to freeze up” at the fundraiser. The Post’s article suggested that Biden stared at the crowd until Obama “took his wrist and led him offstage.” Multiple right-wing media sources reported the same baseless claim, such as conservative commentator Piers Morgan calling the footage “so embarrassing” and Fox host Sean Hannity using the clip as evidence that Biden “is experiencing a serious mental decline.” [Media Matters, 6/18/24]
    • Fox host Greg Gutfeld claimed that Biden “froze in a geriatric trance” at the fundraiser. [Fox News, Gutfeld!, 6/17/24]
    • Fox Business host Stuart Varney said that Biden “had to be rescued” by Obama and that “the president’s mental and physical condition is topic one in politics.” Newsweek Deputy Opinion Editor Batya Ungar-Sargon said that Obama had taken “a feeble President Biden by the hand by like some sort of son or grandson,” adding that the video is “terrible optics to a nation that is already asking itself who’s running things actually in this administration with somebody so old and apparently not in control completely of his faculties.” [Fox Business, Varney & Co., 6/17/24, 6/17/24]
    • An article published by Fox News alleged that the scene in the out-of-context clip posted by RNC Research is “just one of many… showing an ally, aide or family member stepping in to seemingly direct or guide Biden off a stage or during an event.” [Fox News, 6/18/24]

  • Falsehood: Biden was “pooping or sitting on an invisible chair” during D-Day commemoration (June 2024)

    • RNC Research circulated a video showing an out-of-context clip of Biden during a D-Day commemoration event — right-wing media figures cited the clip to claim the president was allegedly “pooping or sitting on an invisible chair.” The full clip actually displays Biden prematurely attempting to sit down but hovering over the chair as he waits for the speaker to finish introducing Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. [Twitter/X, 6/6/24; Media Matters, 6/6/24; Forbes, 6/6/24]

  • From a June 5, 2024, video from The Associated Press, streamed on YouTube

    • On Fox News’ The Five, co-host Jesse Watters proclaimed, “It doesn't matter anymore what a super PAC tells young Americans. You see this, you see Joe Biden look like he poops, young Americans see that and it is over.” [Fox News, The Five, 6/11/24]
    • On her eponymous show, former Daily Wire host Candace Owens asserted that “President Joe Biden did in fact poop his pants in France the other day.” Owens continued, “Everyone knows he pooped his pants. You know he pooped his pants. I know he pooped his pants. But especially us moms to toddlers — we know what went down. It’s an unmistakable, undeniable squat.” [Candace, 6/10/24]
    • On his show, Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro replayed the clip and said it “had everybody suggesting that the president had perhaps defecated upon himself.” [The Daily Wire, The Ben Shapiro Show, 6/7/24]
    • Right-wing conspiracy theory outlet The Gateway Pundit published a blog on the clip from RNC Research titled “HUMILIATION: Biden Awkwardly Hunches Over at D-Day Celebrations… ‘Is He Downloading in His Diaper?’” The blog asserted that “Joe Biden once again reminded the world how mentally and physically unfit he is for office” and claimed that he “appeared on the brink of collapse.” [The Gateway Pundit, 6/6/24]
    • In a since-deleted post, Fox host Jeanine Pirro shared the clip and claimed that Biden was “trying to sit in an imaginary chair,” adding, “Lights on, but Biden’s not home.” [Mediaite, 6/6/24]
    • Right-wing pundit Dave Rubin shared the clip and suggested that Biden was either “pooping or sitting on an invisible chair.” [Twitter/X, 6/6/24]

  • Falsehood: Biden wandered off at the G7 summit until Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reoriented him (June 2024)

    • RNC Research featured a clip from Biden at the G7 summit appearing to be distracted while observing a team of skydivers, with Prime Minister Giorgina Meloni seeming to direct the president back toward the group of world leaders. Video from another angle showed that Biden was turning to acknowledge some of the parachutists who had just landed nearby, with Meloni redirecting him toward the group while they were reportedly speaking to an Italian Army officer about the skydiving demonstration. [Twitter/X, 6/13/24; The Washington Post, 6/15/24; CNN, 6/14/24]

  • From the June 13, 2024, broadcast of C-SPAN

    • Right-wing YouTuber Tim Pool played the clip and declared, “I think whatever drugs they’ve got pumped into his veins are not working anymore, and they know it.” “We’re all deeply concerned about the mental capacity of the president of the United States,” Pool said, adding that “he has no idea what is happening around him” and comparing the situation to “elder abuse.” [Twitter/X, 6/13/24]
    • Right-wing account Resist the Mainstream shared the video and questioned whether Biden will “last until the end of his term.” The outlet posted, “Biden was caught seemingly wandering off during the G7 summit and appeared to be guided back in by his handlers.” [Twitter/X, 6/13/24; Media Matters, 5/18/23]
    • Fox News host Sean Hannity aired the clip on his show and claimed that Biden has been “humiliating himself and us … on the world’s stage yet again” by acting “dazed and confused” during the parachute demonstration. [Fox News, Hannity, 6/13/24]

  • Falsehood: Biden was drinking “mysterious orange liquid” at the White House Juneteenth celebration (June 2024)

    • RNC Research featured a clip of Biden drinking an orange liquid at a White House Juneteenth event, claiming the “mysterious orange drink is the only thing keeping Crooked Joe Biden from falling into a deep slumber. Yikes!” Biden has previously disclosed that orange Gatorade is his favorite drink. [Twitter/X, 6/10/24; Us Weekly, 1/20/21; New York Magazine, 2/27/24]

  • From a June 10, 2024, video from The Associated Press, streamed on YouTube

    • Right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson shared the RNC Research clip and posted, “Joe’s secret drink keeping him awake.” [Twitter/X, 6/10/24]
    • Conservative pundit Bill Mitchell shared Johnson’s post and speculated, “Why is Joe Biden the ONLY one drinking a beverage and why is it orange? It doesn't have a label and is in an unusually shaped bottle. Is that a spiked drink?” [Twitter/X, 6/11/24]
    • On Newsmax’s Prime News, co-host Rob Finnerty questioned, “If it’s a Gatorade bottle, why would they remove the label? Finnerty continued, “The whole thing is just odd. The whole — it’s very very odd.” [Newsmax, Prime News, 6/11/24]

  • Falsehood: Biden admitted that he “sold a lot of state secrets” (June 2023)

    • RNC Research posted a clip of Biden appearing to claim that he had “sold a lot of state secrets and a lot of very important things” while sitting in a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and various tech CEOs, while also sharing an abridged version of the official White House transcript of Biden’s joke. The video cut off before Biden established that he was joking. Right-wing media figures suggested that Biden’s joke was real, with former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis suggesting that “the dementia is letting the truth spill out.” Meanwhile, Fox’s Sean Hannity expressed shock, exclaiming online, “Why would he ever make this joke?!” [Twitter/X, 6/26/23, 6/26/23; Media Matters, 6/29/23]

  • From a June 26, 2023, YouTube video from The White House

    • Right-wing influencer Ian Miles Cheong shared the clip and wrote, “When these people tell you what they do, believe them.” [Twitter/X, 6/26/23]
    • An article by The Gateway Pundit included an abridged version of the White House transcript of Biden’s exchange, withholding the next line where he established his statement was a joke. The article also asserted, “It should also be noted that only a party that is stealing elections would run such a corrupt idiot for president and believe they had a chance!” [The Gateway Pundit, 6/26/23]

  • Falsehood: Biden needs help to simply put on a jacket (August 2022)

    • RNC Research posted a clip that showed Biden struggling to put on a jacket and the first lady assisting him. The video clearly shows that Biden was struggling with the jacket due to wind blowing it away as they disembarked from a helicopter. [Twitter/X, 8/8/22]
    • Fox host Sean Hannity reposted the clip, urging his followers to “Watch FLOTUS Help Biden Get His Coat on After 45-Second Struggle.” [Twitter/X, 8/9/22]
    • The Daily Mail’s Charlie Spiering also reposted the clip, adding, “A masked Joe Biden struggles to put his sport coat back on and drops his aviators on the runway.” [Twitter/X, 8/8/22]
    • Outkick's Clay Travis asserted that the clip of Biden is “just sad. And it keeps getting sadder.” [Twitter/X, 8/8/22]
    • Right-wing commentator & comedian Chad Prather shared the RNC clip and mockingly stated, “So much strength and confidence on display.” [Twitter/X, 8/8/22]
    • Right-wing political commentator Tomi Lahren wrote, “I feel bad for the man but he is clearly slipping and this is just wrong he is still allowed to lead this country.” [Twitter/X, 8/8/22]

  • Falsehood: Biden was “so lost” disembarking from Air Force One (July 2022)

    • The RNC circulated a video of Biden appearing to be confused while arriving by plane to Israel, seemingly in an attempt to question his mental fitness. According to The Washington Post, the video released by the RNC excluded context from the longer source video, which “shows the complicated protocol ahead of a scheduled photo op with newly minted Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid.” [Twitter/X, 7/13/22; The Washington Post, 7/15/22]
    • Fox News host Sean Hannity’s Rumble account posted the RNC video, titled “Confused Joe Biden Lands in Israel, Immediately Asks ‘What Am I Doing Now,’” garnering over 13,000 views. [Rumble, 7/15/22]
    • Responding to the RNC’s clip, conservative commentator Steve Guest sardonically remarked that “Biden’s trip is off to a great start.” [Twitter/X, 7/13/24]
    • Citing Johnson’s tweet, The Daily Wire claimed that Biden had “inadvertently showed the world that his staff provides him with directions for tasks.” [The Daily Wire, 7/13/22]
    • An opinion piece by Newsweek senior editor-at-large Josh Hammer called for Biden to resign, in part citing the events of the RNC clip and calling him the “doddering dolt from Delaware.” [Newsweek, 7/15/22]
    • A column in the New York Post by frequent Fox News guest Miranda Devine claimed that Biden “stumbled off Air Force One” when arriving in Israel. The article also asserted that “Whether he has dementia at this point is immaterial. Half the world thinks he does and that weakens the United States and imperils us all.” [New York Post, 10/3/22]