Tipsheet

Biden HQ Deceptively Edits Trump's Comments About Laken Riley's Killer

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  April 05, 2024 2:30 PM

Earlier this week, we covered how the Biden HQ X account took former and potentially future President Donald Trump's words out of context to claim in a clip that he was referring to illegal immigrants as "animals." In reality, the full context makes clear he was talking specifically about illegal immigrants who are accused of committing heinous crimes as "animals." Trump's remarks came while he was speaking in Michigan on Tuesday, and since then, the Biden HQ account has only doubled down.

In a Thursday post, the Biden HQ took shots at Fox News host Harris Faulkner, who had taken issue with the account taking Trump's comments out of context and using "selective editing," which is exactly what the Biden HQ account did. Faulkner also wondered if they "use[d] AI" when it came to the editing techniques used. It came as an offhand comment at the very end of the clip.

There's also a post taking Trump's comments out of context that promotes the Biden HQ's use of TikTok. In the video, a young woman says, "Guys, look what Donald Trump just said about immigrants," with the accompanying caption reading, "You'll never guess what Trump just called immigrants."

Again, there's no distinction between illegal immigrants who have been accused of murder and immigrants overall.

In addition to that wildly out-of-context remarks, the young woman also claims that "Trump is ramping up his dehumanizing rhetoric and calls to violence." This has been another tactic the Biden reelection campaign has gone with when it comes to taking Trump's comments out of context.

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The clip then goes on to engage in fearmongering about the Project 2025 playbook for when Trump takes office.

It's also telling that the campaign is using TikTok, despite how the app has been banned on federal devices and how the House overwhelmingly passed a bill last month that could lead to a TikTok ban.

When asked why the Biden campaign continues to use the app, despite the president's willingness to sign such a bill, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has been incapable of providing answers. 

Yet another post, as part of a thread, failed to distinguish between illegal immigrants and all immigrants, when Trump was referring to illegal immigrants as "animals," among other terms. That thread, in addition to calling Trump out in such a manner, also tried to spin President Joe Biden's immigration policies as a positive. 

Polls, however, are not looking good for Biden on this issue. Not only has immigration been a top issue for voters in the polls, but Trump has the edge. This includes the Wall Street Journal poll just released on Wednesday, where Trump is ahead of Biden in six key swing states. The poll also indicates that 52 percent of registered voters believe Trump is best to handle "immigration and border security," while just 32 say so about Biden.

Among the issues RealClearPolling shows Biden's approval ratings on, immigration remains his worst one, as just 31.8 percent approve of his handling of the issue while 63.7 percent disapprove.