We fact-checked a fake, viral video with a Trump supporter

66 comments

Misleading content shared by Trump and his team is often defended as humor. But his supporters aren't always in on the joke.
When CNN's Donie O'Sullivan went to a Trump rally in Bemidji, Minnesota, grievances against social media platforms Twitter and Facebook were a common refrain.
Many of the President's supporters told CNN that they felt the platforms' fact-checking processes were biased against conservative viewpoints. Others discussed social media posts that contained manipulated media as if they were real.
"Like when Joe Biden fell asleep during a live interview on television," one supporter recalled, describing a video that went viral only a few weeks prior to the rally.
The video — which appears to show Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden sleeping as a TV news anchor repeats, "Wake up!" — was shared on Twitter by White House social media director Dan Scavino.
But the video was fake.
It was achieved by splicing together real footage of a 2011 interview between journalist Leyla Santiago, now of CNN, and entertainer and activist Harry Belafonte with footage of Biden looking down, his eyes appearing at least partially closed, to make it appear as if he were snoozing. An audio track of loud snoring was placed on the video to complete the effect.
When the video was fact-checked by news outlets, including CNN, and eventually labeled as "manipulated media" by Twitter, prominent Trump supporters complained that it was an obvious joke and a meme.
Asked last week why Trump shares fake videos and baseless conspiracy theories about Biden, Tim Murtaugh, Trump campaign communications director, invoked a meme defense.
"You call it a fake video. What it is is an internet meme," he said. "Those are very frequently done to make a political point."
The joke was lost on Chris, the Trump supporter in Bemidji, who apparently believed the video was real footage. He acknowledged, "I missed that one," when he was shown how the video had been manipulated.
But the fact the video was faked didn't change his impression of Biden because he believed something like that could happen, Chris said.
Chris said he did not want to share his last name.
The dissemination of misleading videos about Biden by the Trump campaign in an effort to make the Democratic presidential nominee seem confused or senile has happened repeatedly.

#2020Election #CNN #DonieOSullivan

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66 comments

  1. The guy that watched the video can’t even admit when something is wrong. That’s what’s wrong with these type of people, They believe in lies and that’s why they love Trump.

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    1. James sevensix ….They have no idea of what is the truth. They are so brain dead, they believe , hell, not sure what they believe. They blame media, so what is the base of there information.

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    3. Unfortunately, it just feeds into their paranoia that the “deep state” is trying to suppress the steaming truth coils 💩 they’re pushing out onto America’s lawn. 🤢🤮

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    4. They can’t catch it all fast enough. I know he Tweeted something and millions saw and shared it before it was caught.

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    1. As a moderate, I can tell you right now that BOTH sides do it. If you think these guys are idiots.. check out Campus Reform on YT. You wont be disappointed

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  9. “It’s not fake, it’s real.”
    -proves that it’s fake-
    “Well I wouldn’t doubt it would happen.”
    -Trump falls asleep during interview-
    “FAKE NEWS”

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    2. Yep. There’s no capacity for critical thinking or logical discourse with these people. Anything that doesn’t fit with their preconceived opinions is “fake news.” Democracy won’t last with these people around.

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    5. @Richard Christie I don’t think remedial English can help me educate a bunch of leftist stooges, but thanks for the suggestion.

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    2. @Walter ismydog I actually read news from CTV, Global, CNN, BBC, Reuters, and Fox to see what people have to say. I actually do not use social media to follow anything or anyone political. So to answer your question truthfully no I do not follow them. I do not follow people I politically align with either.

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    3. @Paulo Verzosa They’re not listening to anything but conspiracy theory garbage to begin with, promoted by trump himself, or they wouldn’t be hearing at ALL. Being nice wouldn’t change their mind if it doesn’t change his

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    4. Some of them are just starting to wake up because they are losing family or people they know right now from Covid

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    5. ​@say what The US does NOT pay 85% of Europe’s defence budget, no country or party is in favor of open borders, no one said anything about taking away 2nd amendment rights except trump lying about democrats…information’s available, but trump supporters only listen to trump and don’t believe anything that’s documented unless it agrees with him – anyone who’s that brainwashed HAS to be stupid and ignorant.

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    2. No political party or group has a monopoly on stupidity, it’s everywhere trust me …there are plenty of liberals that can equal this or beat it

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    1. Conspiracy theorists like them are the biggest sheep of all. They are projecting their own idiocy onto others when they call them sheep for not sharing the beliefs that they blindly adhere to and purposely ignore facts to the contrary in order to maintain.

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  17. There is NO talking sense to ignorant Tumpers. He will lose anyway. Confident there are more intelligent people voting for Biden.

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  19. Qanon fight Democrat’s because they think Joe Biden is a pedophile, while backing Trump who had a lawsuit against him for raping a 13 year old with Epstein. Makes sense.

    Reply

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