Biden deepfake spreads online after withdrawal from 2024 race

"BREAKING: An important message from President Joe Biden on the news," says a July 21, 2024 post from an account called "End Wokeness," which AFP has previously fact-checked for spreading misinformation.

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Screenshot from X taken July 22, 2024

The clip purports to show Biden swearing and using anti-LGBTQ slurs in an Oval Office message after a July 21 announcement that he would drop out of his reelection battle against Trump.

"My fellow Americans, I want to take a moment to address some of the hateful shit you have been talking about me," the president appears to say at the start of the video, which includes a PBS News logo in the lower left-hand corner.

"Many of you have said I am suffering from brain worms, or that I have applesauce for brains. Well, I won't mince words, so here it is: Fuck you."

The clip rocketed across X and other platforms after Biden's decision, a historic move that plunges the 2024 White House race into uncharted territory.

"This video goes harder than the written statement," conservative talk show host Dave Rubin said in one post sharing it.

Biden's withdrawal from the race follows weeks of pressure from Democratic lawmakers and donors concerned that the president, 81 years old and reeling from a shaky debate performance, could not defeat Trump in November.

But the video of him clapping back at his critics is altered.

A watermark indicates an X account called "Prison Mitch" created it. The user describes himself as a "memer" and routinely posts manipulated videos and photos, some of which AFP has fact-checked.

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Screenshot from X taken July 22, 2024

A reverse image search shows the footage of Biden comes from a speech he gave after a gunman wounded Trump during an attempted assassination at a July 13 campaign rally in the state of Pennsylvania (archived here). The president urged Americans to "cool it down" and denounced political violence in the rare Oval Office address, which PBS News carried live (archived here).

PBS News said in a statement on X that the doctored version of Biden's address is a "deepfake" that uses its logo to deceive viewers (archived here).

"Biden did not make this statement," the public media organization wrote. "PBS News did not authorize the use of this video and we do not condone altering news video or audio in any way that could mislead the audience."

Biden announced in a July 21 letter posted to X that he was stepping away from the 2024 race, writing that he would "speak to the nation later this week in more detail about my decision" (archived here). He did not deliver remarks that day and was recovering from a Covid-19 diagnosis.

AFP has debunked other misinformation about the US election here.