Video of a star-studded fundraiser in Los Angeles for President Joe Biden on Saturday is circulating on social media with claims that he froze on stage as he left the event.
“Biden froze again last night and had to be escorted out by Obama,” reads one post on X that had received approximately 22,000 likes and 5,600 shares as of Monday. “This is normal?”
Members of his campaign and administration say the president stopped to cheers and applause as he left a meeting with former President Barack Obama and comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who helped raise more than $30 million for his presidential campaign. re-election. A spokesperson for Kimmel echoed that sentiment.
The video is the latest in a series of clips taken at public events, some of them edited, that are being used to suggest Biden is mentally and physically unfit for office.
Here’s a closer look at the facts.
CLAIM: Biden froze on stage during his fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday night and had to be carried away by Obama.
THE FACTS: Biden paused amid shouts and applause as he left the stage with his predecessor after an interview moderated by host Kimmel.
Former President Donald Trump shared a video on his social media platform Truth Social that showed a grainy version of Biden stopping and looking at the audience as he drove away. “Is this really who you want to be your president?” Trump asked in the post.
Separate event images provided to the Associated Press by Biden campaign spokesman James Singer, shows the president waving, pointing, clapping and giving a thumbs-up to the audience alongside Obama, while Kimmel waits off to the side. Biden then stands for about seven seconds looking at the crowd. He starts moving again when Obama briefly takes his arm and puts his hand on his back as the pair exit the stage.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates described the moment as “the president receiving a crowd of applause for a few seconds.” Singer attributed the negative characterizations as a distraction tactic by those who “are so afraid of losing to Joe Biden that they will do anything to divert attention from the fact that their presidential candidate, Donald Trump, was convicted of 34 felonies, found responsible for sexual assault, committed financial fraud and only cares about himself.”
In response to a question in a Press conference on Monday, regarding videos that were edited to make Biden appear frail or confused, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called such footage “cheap fake videos” that are “made in bad faith.” She added that they demonstrate “everything we need to know about how desperate, how desperate the Republicans are here.”
A source who helped organize and attended the fundraiser told the AP that there was nothing of note at this time and that Obama wanted to be “friendly” by leaving the stage with Biden.
Lewis Kay, a spokesman for Kimmel, called the allegations of online spread “absurd.”
“Attendees at the front were shouting at him and President Biden was trying to hear them,” he wrote in an email to the AP. “It’s that simple.”
The fundraising raised a record of more than $30 million, according to the Biden campaign. George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand were among those who took to the stage at the event. During the interview with Kimmel, Biden and Obama emphasized the need to defeat Trump in a race that is expected to be extremely close.
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This is part of the AP’s effort to address widely shared false and misleading information circulating online. Learn more about fact checking at AP.
