Trump tweets doctored video of Biden, prompting flag by Twitter
Washington — President Trump shared a tweet late Tuesday featuring a doctored video of former Vice President Joe Biden during a campaign event in Florida that replaced the song "Despacito" with the anti-police anthem by N.W.A.
The video, shared by the Twitter user "The United Spot," was retweeted by Mr. Trump, who asked "What is this all about?" Twitter flagged the post as "manipulated media" and linked to the real video of Biden from an event celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.
In the clip from his speech in Florida, which was Biden's first visit to the battleground state since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Biden walks up to the lectern and says "I just have one thing to say." He then pulls out his phone and begins playing the song "Despacito" by the Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi, who introduced Biden at the event in Kissimmee.
After being introduced by Luis Fonsi, Joe Biden pulled out his phone and started playing Despacito ahead of his remarks kicking off Hispanic Heritage Month in Kissimmee, FL. pic.twitter.com/7R6hUZgLW1
— Sarah Mucha (@sarahmucha) September 16, 2020
But in the manipulated video promoted by Mr. Trump, which has been viewed more than 2.8 million times, it's the N.W.A. song "F**k tha Police" that purportedly plays from Biden's phone, not "Despacito."
The doctored video attempts to underscore the president's unfounded claim that Biden is anti-law enforcement and that a vote for him would lead to rampant violent crime in U.S. cities. Mr. Trump has also inaccurately accused Biden of wanting to defund the police. The former vice president told CBS News in June he does not support defunding law enforcement, but is in favor of conditioning federal aid on whether police meet "certain basic standards of decency and honorableness."
The tweet and altered video shared by Mr. Trump are not the first posts flagged by Twitter for including manipulated media or sharing inaccurate information. In May, the social media giant slapped a fact-checking label to a tweet from Mr. Trump for the first time. The tweet from the president claimed mail-in ballots lead to voter fraud and will be forced and illegally distributed. In June, Twitter labeled a video of a doctored CNN clip with the "manipulated media" tag.