Video of 'death to America' chants at DNC is doctored

"'Death to America' chant heard at DNC," says an August 21, 2024 post sharing the video on X.

In the clip, an anti-US slogan rings out as the camera zooms in on Obama, who spoke as part of the convention's second night.

Image

Screenshot from X taken August 22, 2024

Similar posts popped up across X and other platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, as Democrats gathered in Chicago for the four-day event, which is set to culminate with Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepting the party's nomination to take on Republican Donald Trump in November's presidential election.

But the clip is altered.

Reverse image searches revealed Grant Stern, executive editor of the liberal advocacy group Occupy Democrats, posted the original video on X the night of Obama's address (archived here).

The footage features no shouts of "death to America," but rather applause echoing inside the United Center.

"The whole room is electric tonight for Michele Obama's speech," Stern said in his August 20 post.

Livestreamed footage of the event, as well as other clips journalists posted to social media, shows Obama thanking the crowd and making the same hand gestures depicted in Stern's recording (archived here, here, here, here, here and here).

The audio in those videos also captures applause rather than a "death to America" chorus. AFP footage of her entrance includes no such chants, either.

Social media users noted the call-and-response appears to have been cribbed from a 2020 video of Black Lives Matter activists marching in Oakland, California (archived here).

AFP has debunked other misinformation about the DNC here.