A video of US President Joe Biden speaking directly to the camera has gone viral on social media, where it's being circulated as his first address following his announcement that he would not be running as the Democratic Party's candidate in the 2024 US Presidential election.
What Does the Video Contain? The video features Biden making an inflammatory and profane statement. "My fellow Americans, I want to take a moment to address some of the hateful s**t you've been talking about me. Many of you have been saying that I've been suffering from brainworms, or I have applesauce for brains. Well, I won't mince words, so here it is — f**k you, you're all a bunch of f*****s. End of quote. Repeat the line. So enjoy president cackles or president b******, I really don't give two f***s anymore. Biden out."
Is It True? The video is a deepfake.
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The original video, first shared on 15 June, shows Biden addressing Americans after an attempt was made on former US President Donald Trump's life.
How Was the Truth Uncovered? The video carried a watermark from PBS News, leading us to search for similar content on their verified YouTube channel. We found a video from July 15 titled "WATCH LIVE: Biden Oval Office Address on Attempted Assassination of Trump," where Biden spoke about lowering political tensions and condemned violence. His movements in this video closely match those in the viral video.
Timing Discrepancy: The live video was streamed on July 15, while Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 race on July 21.
Verification Process: We searched for keywords from the viral video but found no credible sources supporting the claim. The video was also submitted to TrueMedia tool, which detected "substantial evidence of manipulation" and noted that Biden’s face was altered. ConTrails AI, a Bengaluru-based AI detection firm, confirmed that Biden’s voice was cloned, indicating the video was an AI-generated deepfake. Their analysis on the audio revealed that Biden's voice was cloned.
Conclusion: The viral video of Joe Biden, featuring offensive language and falsely claiming to be his first address after withdrawing from the 2024 Presidential race, is a deepfake.
