Twitter Flags Steve Scalise Video as ‘Manipulated Media’ for Edited Footage of Biden Interview
Twitter stamped a “manipulated media” warning onto a video House Minority Whip Steve Scalise circulated on Sunday, which contains edited footage of activist Ady Barkan as part of an attack on former Vice President Joe Biden.
The video Scalise posted on Twitter portrays the Democratic Party as enablers of the riots, looting, and chaotic mobs that been seen in recent months amid peaceful protests for racial justice. The video especially ties Democrats to the violent conduct witnessed in Portland, Kenosha, and Washington D.C. in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s RNC convention speech.
No police.
Mob rule.
Total chaos.That’s the result of the Democrat agenda.
Ask yourself: Is this what you want in your town next? ↓ pic.twitter.com/zFnrx2kjZq
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) August 30, 2020
Scalise’s tweet has been deleted, but here’s a copy of the video he had:
As Scalise’s video begins to attack Biden in particular, it starts by taking the ex-veep way out of context in order to suggest that the 2020 Democratic candidate supports a national communist revolution. Shortly after that, the video shows Biden speaking with Barkan, who is almost completely paralyzed after years of battling ALS, and he supposedly asked Biden, “do we agree that we can redirect some of the funding for police?”
“Yes, absolutely,” Biden answers before the video ends with the words “No police. Mob rule. Total chaos.”
Hours after Scalise’s video was posted, Twitter flagged the tweet in accordance to their policy on “synthetic and manipulated media.” The reason for this, as called out by Washington Post’s Dave Weigel, is that the clip deceptively embellishes Barkan’s words by editing in “for police” to the question “But do we agree that we can redirect some of the funding?”
There's a clip here of @AdyBarkan, who has ALS and speaks via voice assistance, asking Biden about "re-directing" public safety funding. The clip alters the quote. It splices "for police" into it, using Barkan's artificial voice. https://t.co/WKkbRzlrXF https://t.co/mUysm9YDeQ pic.twitter.com/uofqi9428E
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) August 30, 2020
The clip originates from a conversation Barkan and Biden had months ago, which has also been taken out of context in the past in order to falsely portray Biden as if he supports defunding the police.
The discussion, which was hosted by the progressive organization NowThis, showed Biden calling for an increased focus on mental health and possible reforms for police practices. At one point, Barkan asked Biden, “But do we agree that we can redirect some of the funding?”
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