The White House has pushed back against recent videos of United States President Joe Biden, which critics have used to suggest that he is mentally and physically unfit for office. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has accused some of these videos of being “cheap fakes,” suggesting they have been edited to mislead viewers. “Yeah, we — and I think you all have called this the “cheap fakes” video. And that’s exactly what they are. They are cheap fakes video. They are done in bad faith. And — and some of your news organisation have — have been very clear, have stressed that these right-wing — the right-wing critics of the President have a credibility problem because of — the fact checkers have repeatedly caught them pushing misinformation, disinformation,” said Jean-Pierre in a press briefing.
What are cheap fakes? Coined by Britt Paris and Joan Donovan, co-authors of ‘Deepfakes and Cheap Fakes: The Manipulation of Audio and Visual Evidence’, the term “cheap fake” refers to manipulated audiovisual (AV) content created using inexpensive and accessible software. Unlike deepfakes, which use advanced AI and machine learning, cheap fakes are manually edited, often involving simple techniques like slowing down or speeding up videos, cropping parts, or clipping segments. While both cheap fakes and deepfakes aim to deceive, they differ in their creation and sophistication. Deepfakes are typically AI-generated, often creating content from scratch, while cheap fakes rely on real source videos that are altered manually.
Deepfakes, unlike cheap fakes, are created using artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques. They can generate highly realistic audiovisual content, often indistinguishable from authentic footage. Cheap fakes, on the other hand, rely on manual editing and are easier to produce, though they can still be convincing to unsuspecting viewers. This distinction makes cheap fakes harder to detect, as they lack the telltale signs of AI manipulation present in deepfakes.
What are some examples of alleged Biden cheap fakes? Several videos of President Biden have gone viral, sparking debates about their authenticity and political implications. One such video showed Biden seemingly wandering off during the G7 summit, only to be guided back by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “What is Biden doing?” the Republican National Committee’s research team asked on social media. However, the White House clarified that he was actually congratulating a parachutist. United Kingdom PM Rishi Sunak defended Biden, saying, “As far as I know he went over to talk to some of the parachute jumpers, saying thank you or hello to them all individually.”
Another video from a Juneteenth concert at the White House showed Biden standing rigid for 30 seconds, which critics interpreted as freezing up, but the White House explained as a moment of limited physical mobility. During the D-Day anniversary in France earlier in June, another video clip went viral, showing Biden seemingly trying to sit down when no chair is present after shaking hands with French President Emmanuel Macron. This incident is being referred to online as the “invisible chair” incident. However, some argue that the viral clip has been edited, and the full video reveals that Biden was simply pausing to adjust himself in his seat before US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin approached the podium.
What could be the political implications? Should he be re-elected in November, Biden would be 86 years old, further extending his status as the oldest serving US president. Despite being only three years younger at 78, Trump has been highlighting Biden’s age and making repeated gaffes himself in recent weeks, consistently portraying Biden as unfit to handle the demands of the presidency. While Biden’s team maintains that his health indicators are positive and that he remains alert and capable of fulfilling all aspects of his role, many Americans seem to hold a different view. A New York Times/Siena College poll from March revealed that 73 per cent of registered US voters felt Biden was too old to effectively serve as president. In contrast, 42 per cent expressed the same opinion about Trump.
The circulation of these videos has raised concerns about their impact on public perception, especially in the context of Biden’s age and fitness for office. Previous instances, such as altered videos of former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and ex-Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, have shown how cheap fakes can distort reality and mislead audiences. The spread of these videos has ignited a debate over media ethics and political manipulation. While Republicans defend the videos as showing genuine behavior, Democrats argue that they are part of a broader pattern to undermine Biden. The challenge for Democrats is to counter these videos effectively and prevent them from influencing voters, especially as the US presidential election approaches.
