Why this terrifying video inside the White House will go down in history. 

On Wednesday night, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders shared a video of Twitter that was meant to put an end to a fiery debate.

Instead, she started an entirely new one.

CNN journalist Jim Acosta had his access to the White House revoked on Wednesday night, after asking President Donald Trump a probing question about immigration. Acosta was later accused of “placing hands” on a “young intern” – a claim which was denied by many in the room.

So, Sanders shared a clip.

There was just one problem.

We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video. pic.twitter.com/T8X1Ng912y

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) November 8, 2018

The midterms

The midterms, which were aptly described by one Twitter user as feeling like “all of America awaiting the results of a biopsy,” painted a picture of a nation divided. 

The Democrats won the House, while the Republicans won the Senate. Widely considered as an appraisal of the current administration, the midterms did not indicate a significant shift in Trump’s popularity.

Republican (red) states got redder, while Democrats (blue) states became bluer.

This was not the result many were hoping for.

Trump held a post-midterm election news conference at the White House, where he celebrated his ‘big victory’, despite the fact it wasn’t one.

The President lost his temper multiple times when probed by reporters. CNN journalist Jim Acosta questioned him specifically about his use of the migrant caravan to engender fears about immigration in the lead up to the election, to which Trump replied by calling him a “rude, terrible person”.

Trump went on to say CNN should be “ashamed” of Acosta, before attacking other journalists.

I walked out of the end of that briefing because I am totally saddened by what just happened. Sarah Sanders was repeatedly given a chance to say the press is not the enemy and she wouldn’t do it. Shameful.

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 2, 2018

Did Jim Acosta place his hands on a young intern?

Trump’s response to Acosta’s question was: “Honestly, I think you should let me run the country. You run CNN, and if you did well, your ratings would be better.”

When Acosta attempted to follow up with another question, Trump indicated with a flick of his wrist that he would like the microphone removed from the journalist.

A female White House aide then lent it in to take the microphone, at which point, Acosta stood backwards, and his left arm briefly made incidental contact with the right arm of the intern.

Technically, his ‘hand’ never made contact with the young woman. His wrist did.

What’s wrong with the video Sarah Sanders shared?

The White House press secretary tweeted: “We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video.”

The video accompanying the tweet has been viewed more than nine million times.

There is, however, a problem.

According to Vox, The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman and CNN executive Matt Dornic, that video is doctored.

Videos have been shared on Twitter which compare the original footage to the one shared by Sanders, and it appears that Acosta’s arm motion has been intentionally sped up.

The intern’s reach for the mic is slowed down, and the “chop” motion is accelerated. Here’s an annotated side by side comparison: pic.twitter.com/wLCG5GVdo1

— Aymann Ismail (@aymanndotcom) November 8, 2018

The video posted by Sanders was allegedly first shared by the editor of Infowars, a conspiracy theory and fake news website that has been banned from almost all social media platforms.

Paul Joseph Watson, the creator, still has his account – hence the video.

Doctoring or editing footage and photographs has been, historically, a technique used by dictators all over the world. There are famous photographs of Josef Stalin, where he has edited out those who fell out of his favour.

Adolf Hitler, Vladamir Lenin, Benito Mussolini and Mao Zedong, are among others who edited videos and pictures to align with their agenda, and in so doing, created their own facts.

But we are not in 1943. We are living in 2018. In what is meant to be a democracy.

The tweet shared by Sanders on Wednesday night, will go down in history as a moment that matters.

Sharing a doctored video is outright propaganda – designed to undermine the free press.

And that’s something, no matter how we vote, we cannot accept.