White House officials are aggressively fighting back against a series of “cheap fake” videos that purportedly show President Biden looking confused or dazed and raise questions about his mental and physical health ahead of the election.
The rise of misleadingly cut and edited videos without the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is the latest example of how technology could be used deceptively during the 2024 election campaign.
The use of “cheap fakery” has attracted national attention in recent days after three videos involving Biden went viral and depicted him appearing confused or unaware of his surroundings.
One Viral ClipsThe video, first shared by the Republican National Committee account, shows Biden struggling to sit in a chair that critics claim doesn’t exist during the Normandy landings ceremony, but ends before Biden sits down.
The other footage was taken during Biden’s recent visit to Italy for the G7 summit, when he and other world leaders watched a skydiving demonstration. Trimmed version The video appears to show the Italian prime minister shoving Biden back towards the group after he walks away.
But from a broader perspective, it’s clear that Biden was gesturing to the parachutists who had just landed. The New York Post ran the incident on its front page the next day with the headline “President Panic.”
Right-wing media also circulated footage from Saturday’s fundraiser claiming that Biden froze onstage and was removed by former President Barack Obama. Aides to both Biden and Obama disputed that portrayal.
In the video, Obama and Biden are seen waving goodbye to the crowd at the end of the event. Moments later, Obama shook Biden’s hand and patted him on the back before walking out. In response to a New York Post headline that said Biden froze and had to be escorted off the stage by Obama, Obama adviserResponded“That didn’t happen.”
Former President Trump brought up the videos at a campaign rally in Racine, Wisconsin, on Tuesday and mocked the White House’s response.
“Crooked Joe and his cronies claim he’s smarter than ever and say the videos of Crooked Joe shambling around are ‘total fakes,'” Trump said. “They say they’re deceptively edited. All the mistakes he’s made… he can’t go anywhere without making mistakes.”
Paul Barrett, vice president and senior fellow at New York University’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, said that while “cheap fakes” are not as convincing as advanced AI deepfakes, they still pose a danger, particularly by undermining voter trust.
“I think these actions further blur the distinction between what is true and what is not and provide fuel for the hyper-polarized partisan attitudes that already exist,” Barrett said.
The videos may not be enough to change the voting behavior of many Democrats, but over time the doctored videos could reinforce false narratives about Biden and provide “artificial fuel,” he said.
“Advances in digital technology have had the side effect of blurring the line between truth and falsehood and increasing skepticism among many people that it is even possible to distinguish between true and false,” Barrett said.
Polls have consistently shown voters are concerned about Biden’s age and cognitive ability to seek a second term. Biden is 81 and would be 86 at the end of his second term. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, is 78 and would be 82 at the end of his second term.
A CBS News/YouGov poll conducted this month found that 50% of voters said Trump is in good enough mental and cognitive health to serve as president, compared with 35% who said the same about Biden.
The videos, often shared by conservative accounts and Biden critics, reinforce the image of Biden as a weak man prone to chaos.
White House officials have vigorously responded to a series of recent deceptive videos and slammed the New York Post for its role in spreading them.
Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates has posted about the video more than 20 times on the social platform “X” since Monday, sharing fact-checks and criticizing the Post and other media for spreading it without context.
Spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre called the video a “malicious” attempt by Republicans to discredit the president.
“I think this video shows everything we need to know about how desperate the Republican Party is,” Jean-Pierre told reporters on Monday. “Instead of talking about the president’s accomplishments in office — his legislative victories, what he’s accomplished for the American people across the country — we’re watching these … manipulated videos, and again, this is being done with ill intent.”
The recently altered video clips do not use the new and advanced techniques used in realistic AI-generated deepfakes.
But the rise of AI-generated deepfakes, such as those used to imitate Biden’s voice in New Hampshire’s January primary to discourage voters from voting, could encourage people to use altered video content more frequently as a strategy, said Lisa Gilbert, vice president of the advocacy group Public Citizen.
“This is actually nothing new, it’s just widespread misinformation, but its ugliness and frequency has been exacerbated by the rise of deepfake technology,” Gilbert added.
The White House pushback against the “cheap fake” videos comes after Democrats have been warning for months about the dangers of AI-generated election content, but so far the administration has not introduced any new rules.
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has been looking at clarifying rules for addressing AI in campaign content for nearly a year, and a Senate committee advanced three AI-related election bills in May, but no new guidelines have been set ahead of Election Day.
“I think the real danger of AI in this regard is that it could be used to stage a surprise election in October, where a very convincing fake video could be created right before the election that puts a politician in a false and humiliating position that would be difficult to uncover in a short time frame — 12, 24 or even 36 hours,” Barrett said.
“And that could actually change people’s minds from ‘I’m going to vote’ or ‘I’m not going to vote,'” he added.
