The Biden White House and its allies in the legacy media were essentially telling voters not to believe their lying eyes in 2024 when pushing the now-infamous "cheap fakes" narrative.
A new book detailing Biden’s cognitive decline has dominated headlines and has reignited scrutiny of how the media shielded the then-presumptive Democratic nominee, particularly when it came to his age.
In the weeks leading up to the disastrous debate performance exposing his cognitive decline on the world stage, Biden went viral on multiple occasions in videos his critics said showed him losing his faculties. The first was of him appearing completely frozen while others danced around him at Juneteenth celebration at the White House. The second was of him appearing to wander off at the G-7 Summit away from other world leaders while trying to engage with paratroopers, only to be corralled by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The third was Biden's freezing moment at an L.A. fundraiser which showed former President Barack Obama escorting him offstage.
It wasn't until the latter that the Biden White House latched onto the term "cheap fakes" to describe the viral videos they said were misleading and peddled by right-wing foes of the then-presumptive Democratic nominee.
"I think you have all called this the ‘cheap fakes’ video. And that's exactly what they are," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a press briefing last June. "They're done in bad faith."
Jean-Pierre was likely referring to The Washington Post, a pioneer in dismissing Biden's viral moments as "cheap fakes."
The Post used "cheap fakes" to shield Biden from scrutiny as early as July 2022 in a fact check accusing an RNC social media post of painting "a misleading picture of mental fitness" based on a viral moment Biden had while in Israel. It defined "cheap fakes" as "the practice of misrepresenting events that take place in a video by adding or leaving out context."
Fast-forward to June 2024, when The Post published a lengthy report combating Republicans sharing embarrassing clips of Biden during his trip to Normandy, including when he awkwardly paused while bending to sit down as others remained standing.
"Such deceptively edited videos, known as ‘cheap fakes,’ have become staples of Republican attacks against the president," The Post told readers at the time.
NBC News accused Republicans of pushing a "false" narrative by claiming Biden was wandering aimlessly at the G7 summit.
"Experts have warned that while advanced technology like generative artificial intelligence can spread misinformation, so-called cheap fakes that often use only minor or selective editing can be more effective at spreading false narratives," NBC News wrote.
The New York Times ran a story with the headline "How Misleading Videos Are Trailing Biden as He Battles Age Doubts," insisting the viral clips were either "edited or lack[ed] context," and CBS News released a report sounding the alarm on "cheap fakes" and their impact on the upcoming election, echoing the White House's claim that Biden is "victim to a simpler version of ‘deepfakes.’"
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CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter offered an explainer of what "cheap fakes" are and similarly warned about their impact on the 2024 race.
"We've been worried for years about AI deepfakes that computer-generated images are going to trick people into believing something that's totally false. Cheap fakes are a little bit simpler," Stelter said.
"They're cheap," he continued. "They're just distorted, out-of-context videos chopped up in certain ways, constructed in certain ways. That's what we're seeing."
CNN host Abby Phillip offered a rather sober message to her viewers, saying, "The November choice is between two old men. We know that. But tonight, I want to talk to you about the Joe Biden that Republicans want you to see and the pipeline of videos that aren't telling the full truth. And those videos are probably right now clogging the public consciousness as Americans start to think about their votes."
MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace condemned the "highly misleading and selectively edited videos," calling out the "insidious" trend from right-wing media.
The Associated Press ran its own fact-check attempting to debunk the claim that Biden froze at the L.A. fundraiser.
"CLAIM: Biden froze onstage during his fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday night and had to be led away by Obama," AP wrote. "THE FACTS: Biden paused amid cheers and applause as he exited the stage with his predecessor following an interview moderated by late-night host Kimmel."
Perhaps Biden's strongest media defender regarding the false "cheap fakes" narrative was CNN's media reporter Oliver Darcy, who has since left the network.
"These outlets are wrapping these videos in very misleading context, right? Saying that this is evidence that Biden was freezing. He's not able to walk offstage on his own, and that's obviously not the case, but that's how it's been portrayed in right-wing media," Darcy told CNN's Kaitlan Collins.
"And it plays into this years-long narrative where they have tried to portray Biden as a senile old man incapable of governing the country. And this is just the latest example," Darcy said. "These attacks are obviously ramping up in the lead-up to the November election."
Jake Tapper, CNN anchor and the co-author of "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again," now acknowledges the Biden White House lied about the "cheap fakes" while discussing Biden's L.A. fundraiser, which became a major focal point in his book.
"The Biden White House falsely- when people showed that clip and asked what was going on- said it was a ‘cheap fake.’ They did this all the time when there was video that seemed to show Biden acting in an odd or unusual, seemingly out-of-it way, they would call it a ‘cheap fake.’ It was not fake. It was actual video," Tapper said on CNN earlier this month.