Video of Biden’s NATO summit speech misleadingly edited to supposedly show him waving at nobody
If your time is short
- President Joe Biden was waving and pointing at people to the left of him onstage, not "nobody," as a recent social media video claims.
President Joe Biden recently delivered a speech at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, pledging support to Ukraine and greeting the crowd gathered to listen.
But a clip of that event, spreading on social media, is being mischaracterized.
“Biden points and waves to nobody again … ” read the text above a video posted on Instagram July 12. The video clip comes from a CBS News report showing the end of Biden’s remarks. As the camera pulls away, Biden turns to his left, waves and points as the audience in front of the lectern applauds.
The Instagram post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
The clip in the post cuts out too soon to see the full picture. But a video showing Biden’s full speech reveals a crowd gathered not just in front of the lectern, but on either side of the stage.
Biden appears to be acknowledging the people standing to his left.
He’s not pointing and waving at “nobody.”
We rate that claim False.
Our Sources
Instagram post, July 12, 2023
PBS NewsHour, WATCH: At NATO summit, Biden declares ‘our unity will not falter’ on Ukraine, July 12, 2023
