Claim: A viral video says US president Joe Biden condemned male transgenders, saying they can never be women.
Verdict: False. The video was manipulated.
Full Text
A video which has now gone viral on social media claimed Biden, US president, condemned transgender males. In the clip, he said they can never be women. The video captured the president using cuss words against them.
The video uploaded on YouTube recently showed the president giving a speech from the White House with the US flag behind him.
A keyword search on YouTube popped up another video with the exact audio but with a still photograph of the US President making the statement. The video has been watched over 1,800 times and has elicited several comments.
The video had been shared on WhatsApp with many resharing, indicating they believe its content.
A text attached to the video reads, “Homosexuality is a curse. God bless the United States (sic) of America for this: America’s President has spoken. At last, the first president in the world has said it in clear, simple and unmistakable English. Homosexuality is not natural and is also a debasement of mankind and has no place in modern civilisation. I admire the force and beauty of this communication. You can’t beat the Americans when it comes to effective communication. Enough of the hypocrisy that the world has had to endure.”
Screenshot of the video as shared on Whatsapp
But is the video true?
Verification
DUBAWA subjected the video to Deepware scanner – a tool used to verify the authenticity or otherwise of the video – to know if it had been manipulated or used in a misleading context.
The search result showed that the video was a deepfake as most models were given above 90% in detecting the manipulation.
To ascertain the origin of the video, DUBAWA further made use of the Invid Verification plugin to know where else the video appeared online and the exact context in which it was used.
DUBAWA further subjected the keyframes of the video, brought up by INVID, to reverse image searches and was directed to the original video.
The original video on the Economic Times website showed Mr Biden speaking in Washington about the plans by the United States to send 31 M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine. The video, attributed to the Associated Press, was released on January 26, 2023.
DUBAWA observed that the exact setting in the video with the United States flags in the background and the suit the president was wearing with a matching tie were the same as the one in the viral video.
A further search on Google using the text from the supposed speech showed that the statement is a copypasta: an internet slang for a block of text copied and pasted across the Internet by individuals through online forums and social networking websites.
The “You will never be a woman” comment is said to have evolved with different variants of the message online. One such was posted on 4Chan, a controversial imageboard website as far back as 2011.
A modified version of the text (now deleted) was traced to Reddit about two years ago, containing the exact words used in the viral video.
Meanwhile, Mr Biden, according to news sources, has shown solidarity with the LGBTQI+ community rather than condemn them as the video suggests.
In his speech on the Transgender Day of Remembrance 2022, Biden reiterated that his administration is “committed to strengthening the rights of LGBTQI+ Americans, including transgender Americans.”
Conclusion
The viral video claiming Biden condemned male transgenders is false. It was a deepfake intended to mislead people.
