Russia’s disinformation campaign surrounding the U.S. Presidential elections continues to produce fake news and manipulations aimed at discrediting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. This time, Russian social media channels have spread a claim that Joe Biden declared former U.S. President Donald Trump the new president, pushing the narrative that Biden suffers from cognitive decline.
What Happened?
On October 11, several pro-Russian Telegram channels, including “Olesya Loseva,” “Novy Vzglyad,” (“New view” from Russian] ‘Medved,’ (“Bear” from Russian) and ”Dmitry Vasilets,” which frequently spread disinformation, published a story claiming that the current U.S. President Joe Biden had announced Donald Trump as the new president of the United States. The authors of these posts interpret this as a sign of insanity, dementia, or even secret support for Trump. As “proof,” the story includes a short video that seems to be showing Biden making this announcement.
“Biden has announced the new president! It’s Trump. Biden called Kamala Harris’s rival the new head of the U.S. and asked him to help with Hurricane ‘Milton.’ Is Biden joking, or is it madness?” reads one of the posts.
The news also spread through Russian web resources, including “Dzen.ru.”
Analysis
We reviewed recent speeches by the U.S. President and found that the video clip shared by propagandists in the story was taken from Joe Biden’s October 10 address (text version), which focused on the aftermath of Hurricane “Milton” in the state of Florida.
“Last night, Hurricane Milton made landfall, as we all know, on the west coast of Florida. It brought hurricane winds, heavy rains, including 10 to 20 inches of rain in the Tampa area overnight. Storm surge measurements are still being taken, but 38 tornadoes ripped through 13 counties. Four deaths have been reported thus far,” Biden said on October 10.
During his speech, Biden also emphasized that all relevant government agencies, services, and organizations are involved in rescuing and assisting the affected people to the maximum extent possible and are in constant communication with the government.
One of the most important points in Joe Biden’s speech was a call to stop spreading false rumors and disinformation about hurricanes “Helene” and “Milton” that have been systematically spread over the past month.
“Our fellow Americans are risking their lives to do this dangerous work, and yesterday they received death threats due to reckless, irresponsible, and relentless disinformation and outright lies that continue to flow. Those who engage in such lies are undermining the confidence in the rescue and recovery work that’s opening and ongoing. As I speak, they’re continuing. These lies are also harmful to those who most need help. Lives are on the line. People are in desperate situations. Have the decency to tell them the truth. So, let me say this. To all the people impacted by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, despite the misinformation and lies, the truth is we’re providing the resources needed to rescue, recover, and rebuild,” Joe Biden said.
Telegram channels used footage after President Biden’s speech in which a journalist asked if he had spoken to former U.S. President Trump about spreading disinformation, to which Biden smiled and said: “Are you kidding?” and turned to Trump on camera.
“President Trump — former President Trump, ‘get a life’ man. Help these people,” Joe Biden said.
In response to a journalist’s question about whether Trump would be held accountable for spreading misinformation, Biden said that the public would hold him accountable and urged the press to be involved in the process because “you know the truth.”
In other words, Biden’s speech contained no announcements or acknowledgments of Trump as the current president of the U.S. On the contrary, Biden emphasized that Trump is the former president and urged him to “get a life” and help those affected by Hurricane “Milton.”
Conclusion: Fake
Author: Anna Ormanzhy
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