Fact Check: Joe Biden’s video showing him using abusive language during his address is a deep fake

After announcing his decision to exit the Presidential race, President Joe Biden emphasized that democracy held greater importance than personal ambition. He stated that preserving democracy necessitated uniting his party, and the most effective way to achieve this was to “pass the torch to a new generation.” Biden praised his vice-president and now the likely Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, as “experienced, tough, and capable.”

He reflected on his accomplishments in office and outlined his priorities for the remaining few months of his term. Additionally, he framed the upcoming elections as a critical choice for American citizens, urging them to take responsibility for the country's future.

A 21-second video clip went viral on social media, showing President Joe Biden using abusive language during his address. The video features the PBS News logo in the bottom right corner and a watermark, @midnightmitch, in the center.

Social media users shared the video with the caption, “Breaking Now: President Joe Biden makes his first video address following his withdrawal from the presidential race.”

Fact Check: We found the claim to be false, the viral video is a deep fake.

During a reverse image search of a key frame from the viral video, we found a video uploaded on "The White House" YouTube channel with the title “President Biden Addresses the Nation (ASL).” 

As the viral video features the PBS News logo, we searched for the keyword and found a live stream video uploaded on the PBS NewsHour YouTube channel with the title “WATCH LIVE: Biden addresses the nation after dropping out of 2024 race.” At the 2:41 timestamp, we found an approximate match to the frame in the viral video.

Noticing that some parts of the viral video appeared paused and unnatural, we tested it using an AI detection tool, “HIVE Moderation.” The results showed the video is 99.8% AI-generated or deep fake content.

 We also tested the audio using the AI deep fake detector tool “Resemble Detect,” which indicated that the audio in the viral video was edited.

When we searched for @midnightmitch, we found an account on X. Visiting this account revealed that the user had posted and shared several other AI-generated pictures and videos.

During our search, we found that PBS News also shared on their social media platforms. “A deepfake video of President Joe Biden bearing our logo is circulating on social media. Biden did not make this statement. PBS News did not authorize the use of this video and we do not condone altering news video or audio in any way that could mislead the audience”.

Hence, we found the claim is false. The viral video is a deep fake. In the original video, President Biden did not use any abusive language.