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.
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.
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 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.
Top Comments
*sigh* Not ''doctored", just a gif converted from the original video, which results in frames being removed making it seem more choppy.
Either way, Acosta was rude and unprofessional and clearly touched the young woman with some force, as you see her shoulder drop and her upper body pulled forward from his motion.
Reporters are guests in the Whitehouse and if they're asked to give up the microphone, they should give it up.
Imagine if Trump had touched a female reporter in exactly the same way as Acosta touched that intern. I highly doubt he would be defended the way Acosta has been.
If only he could show the White House and role of President the same respect he expects shown by journalists.