News/Commentary

PolitiFact attempts to cover for Biden’s bizarre ‘air shake,’ hilariously heckled for calling viral clip ‘false’

April 21, 2022 | | Print Article

Look, we know you thought you saw President Joe Biden turn to no one and offer to shake hands with the air following a speech in North Carolina last week, but PolitiFact needs you to know that your eyes are lying and this is just another example of how “misinformers manufacture and embellish” mortifying Biden gaffes to make him look bad.

It took them nine Tweets to do it, but the “fact-checking” presidential lapdogs at PolitiFact have rated claims that a lost and confused Biden offered his outstretched hand to an invisible supporter are absolutely false.

“You might have seen a clip of President Joe Biden ‘shaking hands’ with thin air,” PolitiFact posted Wednesday. “It never happened. Here’s the truth, as well as how misinformers manufacture and embellish embarrassing presidential moments.”

PolitiFact bemoaned the coverage the clip received from such notables as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Twitter, Snoop Dog on Instagram, and even on “Saturday Night Live” which, report the fact-checkers, brought the clip up at the start of its “Weekend Update” segment, “after they mentioned Biden’s low approval ratings.”

According to PolitiFact that is not, in fact, what the world witnessed, and any notion that it was is the result of misleading editing — though it failed to post alternate camera angles from the speech that would prove its point.

According to PolitiFact, what you actually saw was the president “pointing at the audience behind him with his whole hand,” and apparently we’re meant to just take their word for it.

“He acknowledges the right side, the left, and begins to walk forward,” PolitiFact tweeted.

While PolitiFact acknowledges that attempts to “portray presidents as ineffective or seize on moments that make them look that way are not new,” an “increasing share” of such attempts to do so, the group claims,  are inauthentic or fake.

“[A]n increasing share of the supposedly embarrassing presidential moments going viral online aren’t fully authentic or fake,” PolitiFact claimed. “Instead, real photos and videos have been edited in misleading ways — ways that will usually find a receptive audience.”

To bolster their argument, PolitiFact cited research scientist Mike Caulfield who claimed that our eyes can breed “a false sense of confidence.”

“When we look at something that seems like one of these human moments, we’re like, ‘I don’t need to know anything. I can see it right there,'” Caulfield said. “It does breed, I think, a false sense of confidence in us.”

It was an explanation that promptly fell flat.

“‘Pointing with his whole hand …’ like a handshake with thin air, but not a handshake with thin air. Because we say so,” replied one user on Twitter.

“You must be joking?” stated another. “I watched it several times. I Really don’t believe ‘he was pointing with his whole hand at the audience behind hin’ when there was barely anyone behind him? And, yes, he did try to do it again on the other side. And began to walk aimlessly — Not forward.”

“You sure did spend a lot of words trying to convince me my eyes don’t work,” responded a third user.

According to Ron Coleman, PolitiFact is once again running interference for the bumbling Biden.

“Nice lift, as always,” he tweeted.


In case you somehow missed the clip in question, here it is, so that you may judge for yourself if the social media stoning of PolitiFact’s assessment that follows is warranted.

https://twitter.com/lateforapex/status/1516877832839852033?s=20&t=afZe1Fkx2hmLdI6mjB2RNw

Melissa Fine
Latest posts by Melissa Fine (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles