Right-wing media figures are using a misleadingly edited clip from the Republican National Committee’s rapid response team to claim that during a D-Day commemoration event, President Joe Biden is “pooping or sitting on an invisible chair,” making him “COMPLETELY UNFIT TO SERVE.”

On June 6, President Biden gave a speech in Normandy, France, to commemorate D-Day and restate his support for NATO amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Right-wing media attacked the president over the event, using the RNC rapid response team’s short, out-of-context clip of Biden as he prepared to sit for Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s remarks.

The misleadingly edited clip showed Biden bending down and reaching for something behind him while those around him stood. In the full clip, the president appeared to start sitting down a few seconds too early, but moments later others onstage also sat, including First Lady Jill Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Right-wing media quickly spread the RNC’s clip, using it as supposed evidence that Biden is not fit to serve another term. They claimed Biden was sitting in an “imaginary chair” or even “pooping” in his pants and that he is “mentally and physically unfit.”

• Right-wing podcaster Tim Pool showed the RNC’s video and claimed that “it appears that Joe Biden possibly soiled himself.” Pool said that “liberals are going to say, ‘Tim is biased. He doesn’t like —’ this is why! This is it! It’s these videos,” then played the edited clip. [YouTube, Timcast, 6/6/24]
• Right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson aired the edited clip of Biden sitting and said, “Some say this is Joe Biden pooping.” Johnson claimed that “something is terribly terribly wrong with Joe Biden” because he tried to sit in an “imaginary chair.” Johnson cut the clip off before Biden and the others all sat. [Rumble, The Benny Show, 6/6/24]
• Infowars host Alex Jones aired the edited clip and said Biden has repeatedly soiled himself and is wiping his butt “with America.” He mentioned an episode in which he claimed Biden “takes a big, old disgusting dump in his pants.” [Infowars, The Alex Jones Show, 6/6/24]
• Right-wing pundit Dave Rubin shared the clip and suggested that Biden was either “pooping or sitting on an invisible chair.” [Twitter/X, 6/6/24]
• In a since-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), Fox host Jeanine Pirro shared the clip and claimed that Biden was “trying to sit in an imaginary chair,” adding, “Lights on, but Biden's not home.” [Mediaite, 6/6/24]
• Right-wing outlet Gateway Pundit published a blog on the clip titled “HUMILIATION: Biden Awkwardly Hunches Over at D-Day Celebrations… ‘Is He Downloading in His Diaper?’” The blog asserted that “Joe Biden once again reminded the world how mentally and physically unfit he is for office” and that he “appeared on the brink of collapse.” [Gateway Pundit, 6/6/24]
• Right-wing pundit Riley Gaines shared the RNC’s clip and wrote: “No yeah Biden is TOTALLY fit to serve for another 4 years,” adding, “Our enemies laugh at us.” [Twitter/X, 6/6/24]
• Anti-LGBTQ account Libs of Tik Tok shared the RNC’s clip to its 3 million followers and wrote: “What on earth is going on here?” [Twitter/X, 6/6/24; Media Matters, 11/2/23]
• Right-wing media personality Ben Shapiro shared the RNC’s clip and wrote “WTF is even happening here.” [Twitter/X, 6/6/24]
• Far-right media figure Sean Feucht shared the clip and declared that Biden is “COMPLETELY UNFIT TO SERVE.” He also claimed that “there is simply no way to defend this. No more excuses.” [Twitter/X, 6/6/24]
• Conservative pundit Dana Loesch shared the clip and wrote, “Babies do this when they have to go to the bathroom.” [Twitter/X, 6/6/24]
• Trump ally Laura Loomer shared the clip and claimed that Biden was “struggling to stand up at the D day ceremony in Normandy, France.” [Twitter/X, 6/6/24]

Others in right-wing media pushed the idea that Biden can’t stand and is unfit for the presidency, even without the clip.

On Fox News, host Harris Faulkner said, “Are we going to see another scene where he’s up on that dais and he didn’t know whether he should stand or sit, as we saw earlier today? Look, this isn't a pick-on-the-president moment, this is a point-out-the-frailty moment. This is a point-out-the-acuity-gaps moment.”

The RNC’s misleadingly edited clip and attacks on Biden come just a day after The Wall Street Journal published an investigation into President Biden’s mental acuity that relied heavily on the accounts of anonymous Republicans.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters