Twitter, Harry Belafonte aren't thrilled with a 'manipulated' anti-Biden video posted by Trump's social media chief
Twitter flagged a video Monday posted by White House social media director Dan Scavino, labeling it "manipulated media" and removing it because of a copyright complaint. Hours later, Twitter slapped the manipulation label on another video from President Trump's campaign "war room" account. The Trump War Room video simply takes a quote from Democratic nominee Joe Biden out of context to make it sound like he is saying people won't be safe "in Joe Biden's America." The one Scavino posted on his personal account involved doctoring a 2011 Harry Belafonte interview with KBAK in Bakersfield, California.
Before Twitter flagged and removed Scavino's tweet, KBAK anchor John Dabkovich pointed out that Belafonte had been replaced by Biden and a snore track.
Belafonte slammed the Trump campaign, saying "they keep stooping lower and lower" and begging "every sane American: please vote them out. I knew many who gave their life for the right to vote. Never has it been so vital to exercise that right."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) faced blowback Sunday for posting a video that edited a Biden interview with ALS activist Ady Barkan to make it sound like Biden agreed to "defund" the police. Why post such obvious fakes? Well, Scavino's post was viewed 2.4 million times before it was removed.
No videos or tweets from the Biden campaign have been flagged by Twitter, Forbes reports, but if you want some pointers on how to spot fake or deceptively edited videos during what's sure to be an ugly election season, The Washington Post has some advice for not getting suckered. Peter Weber
-
Hilarious comedians to see on tour this winterThe Week Recommends Get some laughs from Nate Bargatze, Josh Johnson and more
-
A January deadline could bring the pain all over againToday’s Big Question A January deadline could bring the pain all over again
-
Political cartoons for December 23Cartoons Tuesday's political cartoons include an eye on CBS, cracking the middle class, and Donald Trump's name on everything
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
