House Minority Whip Steve Scalise admitted Monday a doctored video he released of Democratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden “shouldn’t have been edited,” but argued the message he was trying to send was accurate.
Mr. Scalise, Louisiana Republican, came under fire over the weekend for posting a video that contained a clip of an interview between Mr. Biden and Ady Barkan, a Democratic activist.
The video added the words “for police” when Mr. Barkan, who speaks with computer assistance due to ALS, asks Mr. Biden, “Do we agree that we can redirect some of the funding?” He was referring to shifting money away from police departments to mental health and social services.
Critics argued that the video made it seem as if Mr. Biden intends to fully defund police — a stance the former vice president said he doesn’t support.
“It shouldn’t have been edited,” Mr. Scalise said on “Fox and Friends.” “But at the same time the comments were always about — in fact, twice in that interview he asked Joe Biden if he was for redirecting money away from police and at both times Joe Biden said yes.”
Mr. Scalise said they put out the full interview for those that want to see the whole context.
The video was flagged by Twitter as manipulated media and sparked a wave of backlash from Democratic leaders.
Mr. Barkan slammed the video online and demanded that Mr. Scalise delete the video.
“These are not my words. I have lost my ability to speak, but not my agency or my thoughts,” he tweeted. “You and your team have doctored my words for your own political gain.”
The congressman agreed and removed the clip of Mr. Barkan from the whole campaign video.
These are the images the left, the media, and Joe Biden don’t want you to see.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) August 31, 2020
They want to silence anyone who exposes the violence and destruction they’ve been labeling as “peaceful protests” for months.
RT so everyone can see. pic.twitter.com/V2VoS8ug6z
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.