Fox & Friends Defends Cheapfake Biden Videos: ‘If You Know Nothing About Politics’ They Work!

The co-hosts of Fox & Friends took turns attacking the White House and defending their reliance on cheapfake videos that many have claimed portray President Joe Biden in an unfair and critical light.

Over the past week to 10 days Fox News has featured a number of videos that make the stiff and slow 81-year old president look even stiffer and slower, largely because they are edited in a misleading way. As I wrote in a column Monday, while misleading and largely unfair, these videos resonate because, like all caricatures and stereotypes, they are rooted in the truth.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called out the largely conservative outlets, like Fox News, saying of the cheapfakes: “They are done in bad faith. And, some of your news organizations have, have been very clear, have stressed that these right-wing, the right-wing critics of the president have a credibility problem because the fact-checkers have repeatedly caught them pushing misinformation, disinformation.”

Following a White House lawn report from Peter Doocy, in which he dismissed Jean-Pierre’s criticism as “scapegoating,” the topic was taken up on the Fox & Friends curvy couch, with each co-host offering their own defense.

Lawrence Jones took the curious respect your elders route, noting how, in his family, the tradition is to take an older family member by the hand to ensure that he or she is safe. Of course, there is no denying that Biden is

indeed elderly, but Jones feels that, as president, he is not afforded the respect that other 81-year-olds deserve.

Then came Ainsley Earhardt, who essentially admitted that these cheapfakes are out there because they are effective tools for very low-information voters (and Fox News viewers?) who either lack critical thinking skills or a basic understanding of how post-production works and any media responsibility to convey the truth.

“If you know nothing about politics and you watch those videos that now the White House is trying to say manipulation. If you watch those videos and don’t know anything about politics you can’t fake that. You can’t unsee that,” she said. “These are not lying eyes. A video is not lying. He’s not dancing, he’s being pulled off. Here’s the thing when you are choosing between the two presidents. This going to be a factor. It just is.”

So yeah, people believe what they see, which is precisely why a news organization has a responsibility to convey events truthfully.

Let’s say I used a remarkably unflattering frame from the segment as the featured image of this post—one that depicted a Fox & Friends co-host in mid-laugh for cough. Even though it accurately depicts something that truly happened, it would be deeply unfair to the subjects at hand.

Fox & Friends had a field day with video of Biden

addressing skydivers with a thumbs up after they parachuted into an Italian field during the G7. But they didn’t accurately describe the events as they actually occurred, and opted instead to just incorrectly say that he had meandered or wandered away from the group of world leaders. Low-information viewers see it and buy it, but Fox & Friends should do better. Alas, they very often do not.

As the segment dedicated to Biden’s alleged ineptitude and confusion concluded, Brian Kilmeade paraded his ignorance on the definition of “zeitgeist,” apparently confusing it with the biological term “zygote,” which was a light moment and elicited a curvy couch laugh.

Watch above via Fox News.