The Regime Media is in full firefight mode over the recent onslaught of viral videos showing President Joe Biden in a less-than-favorable cognitive light. NBC’s entry into this field is significantly less ridiculous than Nancy Cordes’ fiasco of a report for CBS.
But still ridiculous, nonetheless. Watch as Gutierrez attempts to establish that the video is a fake, despite clear evidence to the contrary:
GABE GUTIERREZ:The video went viral faster than usual. President Biden at the G7 summit in Italy surrounded by world leaders, appearing to wander off before being pulled back to the group by the Italian prime minister. In reality, another camera angle showed the president was actually trying to greet skydivers who just finished a demonstration. But the Republican National Committee and conservative media quickly amplified the first angle, falsely claiming the president was meandering. The Biden campaign is calling it a, quote, “cheap fake”.
Of course, it wasn’t. And, of course, Biden did meander at the G7. Biden walked away from a staged photo-op in order to talk to the skydivers. Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni wrangled Biden back into the picture, moving some prime ministers around in the process.
Moving ahead, Gutierrez talked to a top Biden staffer, who defined “cheap fake” as “deceptively edited video. To his credit, Gutierrez got into the substance of the G7 argument, and explained some of the other videos.
Gutierrez also brought on a Trump spokesperson, explained “the bloodbath hoax”, and had some Trump clips afterwards. This is significantly more of a balanced effort than Nancy Cordes’ awful report.
Nonetheless, it is still media firefighting. Gutierrez did attempt to establish the G7 video as a fake. This was still Regime Media firefighting in an effort to Protect the Precious from his biggest vulnerabilities: age and cognitive decline.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on NBC Nightly News on Thursday, June 20tth, 2024:
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
6/20/24
6:39 PM
LESTER HOLT: Now to the race for The White House and battle over viral videos intensifying one week from the first debate. And there are new details about that debate. Gabe Gutierrez joins us now. Gabe, what do we know?
GABE GUTIERREZ: Hey there, Lester. After winning a coin toss, President Biden picked the podium on the right side of the stage, and we now know former President Trump will deliver the final closing statement- and it comes after both campaigns are already doing battle online.
The video went viral faster than usual. President Biden at the G7 summit in Italy surrounded by world leaders, appearing to wander off before being pulled back to the group by the Italian prime minister. In reality, another camera angle showed the president was actually trying to greet skydivers who just finished a demonstration. But the Republican National Committee and conservative media quickly amplified the first angle, falsely claiming the president was meandering. The Biden campaign is calling it a, quote, “cheap fake”.
What is a cheap fake?
ROB FLAHERTY: Cheap fakes are these deceptively edited videos, and they're a huge part of Donald Trump's campaign strategy.
GUTIERREZ: Rob Flaherty is Biden's deputy campaign manager who's overseeing the escalating digital war and slamming the Trump campaign, saying it's increasingly taking videos out of context.
FLAHERTY: We have to be more aggressive about monitoring, about intervening, about taking action against it because it is just going to be such a centerpiece of how he's communicating.
GUTIERREZ: That G7 video is among a string of clips that some Republicans say raises concerns about President Biden's age and abilities. Tonight the Trump campaign is arguing there's nothing wrong with highlighting videos that are not digitally altered like this clip of President Biden standing still for several seconds on stage at a Hollywood fund-raiser until former President Obama leads him off stage and another where he also stood still as people danced around him during a Juneteenth celebration. The White House says the president did not freeze in these incidents but was enjoying the moment. Tonight the Trump team telling us:
KAROLINE LEAVITT: The Biden campaign is trying to convince the American public not to believe their own eyes. We are simply posting these videos for the world to see and to come to their own conclusion on, which the American public has.
GUTIERREZ:: The Trump campaign argues the Biden team is taking the former president's words out of context.
DONALD TRUMP: We're going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line. Now, if I don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath.
GUTIERREZ: By claiming that comment referred to political violence instead of economic pain.
JOE BIDEN: And he said if he loses, there's going to be a bloodbath.
TRUMP: It's called the bloodbath hoax, taking my words completely out of context.
GUTIERREZ: There's always been misinformation during campaigns, but this election cycle, cyber experts expect much more of it including A.I.-generated deep fakes. Current and former officials tell NBC News that the FBI and Department of Homeland Security have no firm plan to alert the public about deep fakes or other false information during the 2024 election, unless it's clearly coming from a foreign actor and poses a sufficiently grave threat. A digital battlefield, raising questions about free speech, censorship, and partisan politics. Gabe Gutierrez, NBC News. Wilmington, Delaware.
