Freezing to wandering off: White House responds to videos alleging Biden’s mental decline

The White House on Monday strongly criticised Republicans for circulating videos that allegedly depict US President Joe Biden’s mental and physical deterioration, claiming that the footage has been deceptively edited and manipulated in a misleading manner.
While speaking to the media, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “It tells you everything that we need to know about how desperate Republicans are here,” and referred to the clips as “cheapfake” videos.

Various outlets, including the New York Post and an official Republican social media account, have recently shared several seemingly incriminating short videos of the 81-year-old president.

One video shows Biden awkwardly walking away from the group as the world leaders posed for official G7 photo. The video showed Biden walking a few feet away from the group while watching a skydiving display. Meloni, however, quickly reached out to him, tapping on his shoulder to get his attention back to the group photo.

However, Jean-Pierre asserted that the footage was misleadingly edited, and that Biden was actually moving to give a thumbs up to the parachutists.

“This was widely fact checked … including by conservative media,” she said at a media briefing, adding “if you run that tape a little bit longer than you’d see … what was happening.” NBC also debunked the claim earlier in the week by posting footage from a different angle online, showing Biden interacting with the parachutists nearby.
Another widely-shared clip featured a close-up shot of Biden standing still as world leaders danced close to him during a concert at the White House, which opponents claimed showed a state of confusion. Jean-Pierre responded, “The president stood there listening to the music, and he didn’t dance. Excuse me. I did not know not dancing was a health issue.”

Another video that went viral was where the US President appeared to have “frozen” on-stage during a fundraising event in California before being led off-stage by former president Barack Obama.
However, Andrew Bates, another White House spokesman, stated on X that Biden was actually waiting on the stage to appreciate the applause from his supporters.
Biden’s primary opponent in the November election, Republican Donald Trump, has made Biden’s advancing age a central campaign issue, attempting to present himself as an energetic alternative.
Regardless of who wins the election, a new age record will be set.