What is a “cheap fake” video? That depends which political party is explaining this latest polarizing point of conversation.
Left-leaning news outlets are calling cheap fakes “misleading videos” that are used by the right to misrepresent President Joe Biden. Right-leaning news outlets said cheap fakes is a term made up by the left to protect the president’s image amid a series of viral Biden videos.
The term gained popularity after White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the controversial videos.
“I think you all have called this the cheap fakes video and that’s exactly what they are, they are — cheap fakes video,” Jean-Pierre said during a press conference. “They are done in bad faith and some of your news organizations have been very clear that right-wing critics of the president have a credibility problem. Because of the fact checkers have repeatedly caught them pushing misinformation — disinformation.”
Multiple left-leading news outlets referred to the videos as “misleading.”
NBC News: “Misleading GOP videos of Biden are going viral.”
New York Times: “How misleading videos are trailing Biden.”
The Washington Post: “How Republicans used misleading videos to attack Biden in a 24-hour period.”
Headlines from right-leaning news outlets accused the left of making excuses for Biden by referring to the videos as cheap fakes.
New York Post: “White House makes wrong claims while accusing Post of misreporting videos.”
Fox News: “Liberal media outlets ‘running cover’ for Biden by calling viral clips cheap fakes.”
The Daily Wire: “Media goes all in on White House’s cheap fakes narrative.”
In one viral video, Biden breaks away from a group of world leaders at the G7 Summit during a parachuting presentation.
The New York Post and other right-leaning outlets uploaded a video and described Biden as “wandering off.” MSNBC and others on the left noted the president was “greeting a parachutist,” posting a video showing the event more clearly from a different angle.
Another example comes from a D-Day ceremony in France. The New York Post called it “an awkward moment” as the president went to sit without anyone else joining him. Some on the right claimed there was no chair behind him, even though there was.
Those on the left point to a longer clip that shows everyone — including Biden — sitting for the ceremony moments later.
A third video shows Biden on stage with former President Barack Obama at a recent Hollywood fundraiser.
The right-leaning New York Post described it as Biden “appearing to freeze up on stage” with Obama then “escorting” Biden out. Conversely, NBC and others on the left classified it as Biden “staring into the audience for a moment” before “Obama signaled it was time to leave the stage.”
There are multiple other videos that have gone viral, causing debate as different interpretations emerge.
Biden is usually the subject of these viral clips, but there are some of former President Donald Trump circulating as well.
For example, A viral image of Trump locking hands with his son Don Jr. prompted online speculation that he needed to be guided off stage, however, a video shows that the interaction was actually a quick handshake between the two.
Being in a digital age comes with campaign advantages, allowing candidates to reach millions of people with one post or raise millions of dollars with the click of a button. On the other hand, character attacks from a misinterpreted image or video online can happen just as quickly.
