As Twitchy reported earlier, at least one Democratic congressman and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff have demanded Twitter take down a video tweeted by President Trump showing clips of the State of the Union address interspersed with footage of Pelosi tearing the speech in half at the conclusion.
In a time when social media platforms like Twitter are paranoid about political “misinformation” during an election year, the Washington Post has expressed concern that the video highlights “a gray area” in the debate over misinformation.
Trump shared an edited Pelosi video on social media, highlighting a gray area in the debate over disinformation https://t.co/NCVthxExLC
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 8, 2020
Wow, Turning Point USA edited the video? That’s crazy. What’s even crazier is that tomorrow night the Motion Picture Academy will actually award someone for editing a film. There really should be disclaimers on movie posters if these things are going to be edited.
Here’s how the Washington Post puts it:
Dave Karpf, a media and public affairs professor at George Washington University, said the video was clearly meant to be misleading. “We all know the difference between editing something to make it more clear and editing something to make it more deceptive,” he said.
While the simple edit may not violate Facebook’s or Twitter’s policies, Karpf said, the video should still draw public outrage as “gross and disturbing and a sign of what is probably more to come.”
“This is the stuff we’re probably going to be wading through for the next nine months,” he said. “It’s not the technology of deepfakes we should be worried about: It’s going to be garbage like this, spread through Trump’s microphone and amplified by the rest of the conservative-media apparatus.”
Yeah, the good professor doesn’t sound at all biased. Has he seen Joe Biden’s latest attack video on Pete Buttigieg? We’re pretty sure that one was pieced together too.
Here’s Benny Johnson, chief creative officer of Turning Point USA:
Nancy Pelosi is personally calling for *this video* to be taken down.
Members of Congress are screaming that it is “doctored.”
Leftists are furious about it.
My team at @TPUSA made this video.
The President shared it.
This is a very scary moment
*thread* pic.twitter.com/JPnFx0cAU0— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 8, 2020
First: watch the video.
Here is how we made it:
We took real lines from the President's State of the Union speech and then used a real footage of Speaker Pelosi tearing up Trump's speech as a transition for each clip.That's it.
Real events that really happened, in a timeline.
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 8, 2020
Taking real footage of things that happened and placing that footage together in a timeline is literally how you create:
– news packages
– sports highlight reels
– documentaries
– instant replayThis is called a "package"
Everything in perfect sequence is called a "live stream"— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 8, 2020
FACTS:
– Trump gave a great speech
– Pelosi ripped up Trump's speech
– In the document Pelosi ripped up, were printed powerful, inspirational American stories and the names of heroes who gave their lives for this country
– Pelosi literally ripped up Powerful American stories— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1226200489412440064
Q: So how and why did the President share this video on FB, Insta and Twitter?
A: Because it is great content and shows in real terms what Speaker Pelosi was ripping up.
This is not the first time @realDonaldTrump has shared our content @TPUSA and I doubt it will be the last.
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1226200491375386624
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1226200966153867265
Don’t let the totalitarian censors win. Fight back. Pelosi does not want you to see this video simply because it shows how petty and insulting her act was at the SOTU.
That should make you want to share our video even more:
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 8, 2020
Truth: There wouldn’t be any talk whatsoever about “misleading” or “doctored” footage if the video weren’t incredibly effective in showing just how petty Pelosi was. She didn’t have to tear it up; she chose to. She planned to. And — surprise! — it backfired on her. Now she wants video of her ripping up the speech taken down from social media.
Nancy honey you supposedly had your big girl pants on when you decided to engage in a Nationally Televised Temper Tantrum. AMERICA WAS WATCHING
— Dave (@rangerider97) February 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/Carolannsassy/status/1226224783647338498
When @SpeakerPelosi ripped up that speech live on tv, I literally GASPED, as I'm certain many Americans did! It was an outright public disgrace and total disrespect for our entire country! She deserves whatever is thrown at her!!
— Jenell (@JKment) February 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/Gr8ful_Patriot/status/1226208894743203845
There is nothing on this video that is untrue. Pelosi needs to sit down. Tired of her.
— J. Hester (@JHester1531) February 8, 2020
The left does this to Trump all the time. When its to their advantage they couldn't care less that its happening, but now that it is targeting their queen it is suddenly bad. ?
— KarmaDog (@KarmaDogOh) February 8, 2020
Great video! The Democrats can’t handle the truth ?
— Debra Steffes (@DebraSteffes) February 8, 2020
I watched the entire SOTU address so I know that what you are stating is factual. I always tell my kids, if you’ll be embarrassed by your public behavior later, then think twice before you behave that way publicly. She knows what she did was asinine her expression says it all!
— BejaGirl (@bejagirl64) February 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/edifiedmom/status/1226202068366626818
They want this censored not because its false…but because it's true.
It's an artistic contrast of Trump versus the current opposition party leader at one moment in time… and it's pretty devastating.
Score this a W in what will be a long battle of ideas and vision…
— Vingancia (@Vingancia) February 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/titusxpullo/status/1226204829283999745
Maybe Pelosi should have realized that a meme video like this would go viral before she decided to make her dramatic gesture.
— Carlos Gomez (@cgomez000) February 8, 2020
5.3 million views??????????
— M Mangoz Acquitted (@MMangoz) February 8, 2020
I don't produce memes but I saw this exact same thing in my head as soon as she tore the SOTU. Taking it down from social media will not help. It's what we were all thinking anyway. That optic is stuck in our heads forever.
— gail_nealtoo (@GNealtoo) February 8, 2020
laughable. She’s responsible for her own behavior and knew that the nations were watching.
— Brandi Austin ??⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@AustinBtrfly28) February 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/tookem2/status/1226237834488508417
Magnificent video and factually accurate.
— Donald Thibaut (@dgtbow) February 8, 2020
It's a perfect video and one I anticipated would be made in exactly that way.
— Joel Goldenberg (@JoelGoldenberg1) February 8, 2020
It’s is doctored. You cut out the part where she chugs the bottle of vodka right before the speech starts.
— djgenz-Text Trump 88022 (@deeges909) February 8, 2020
It’s going to be wild watching Twitter and other social media platforms trying to police the 2020 campaign season. Wonder which party will get away with “edited” campaign ads?
Related:
https://twitter.com/TwitchyTeam/status/1226249358083084288
