Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
The White House has slammed what they have called an edited clip of Joe Biden “freezing” up while on stage at a fundraiser.
In a statement, the White House fumed at the so-called “cheap fake,” which supposedly showed President Biden freezing up as he and former President Barack Obama walked off stage following an interview with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater.
In the video, which was originally posted by the RNC Research account, Obama reaches out and gently touches a frozen Biden on the arm before they walk off stage together.
However, another video from the end of the fundraiser shows that Biden was taking in the applaud from the crowd before he and Obama walked off stage together.
White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates also slammed the video, describing it as a “cheap fake” in a statement to The Daily Beast.
“By pretending the president taking in an applauding crowd for a few seconds is somehow wrong, all they’re really admitting—once again—is they can’t take on the leadership that’s fueling the strongest economic growth in the world, bringing violent crime to a 50-year low, restoring manufacturing jobs from overseas, and strengthening our alliances.”
Meanwhile, earlier this month, videos emerged of 81-year-old President Biden appearing “frozen” while on a dance floor at a Juneteenth celebration as Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, first gentleman Doug Emhoff danced and clapped to the music.
Donald Trump’s campaign responded to the video, writing on social media: “Lights are on but no one’s home.”
Bates hit back, accusing Republicans of “falsely claim[ing] someone who never stops moving in a clip ‘froze’ because they simply weren’t dancing. There are others in the video doing the same.”