Trump Campaign Amplifies Video Falsely Claiming Biden Used Teleprompter In Interview

A bit of deceptively cut footage tweeted by the president's supporters — including Eric Trump — isn't even close to the true story.
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A misleading video spread on social media by supporters of President Donald Trump purportedly showing Democratic nominee Joe Biden losing his place while reading off of a teleprompter was debunked as false on Wednesday.

The clip made its way through the president’s inner circle after Trump supporter Courtney Holland tweeted it on Tuesday, exclaiming that Biden — who appeared to say “I lost that line” after answering a question during an interview — was “not a serious presidential candidate.” Her tweet was amplified by Eric Trump, who called the video “unreal,” and Trump communications strategist Jason Miller then shared the clip. Miller’s tweet was eventually retweeted by the president himself.

In actuality, Biden was not reading off of a teleprompter. Instead, the Democratic candidate was engaged in an interview with Noticias Telemundo anchor José Díaz-Balart. The interview was arranged in a fashion where a screen had been set up to Biden’s left, displaying prerecorded footage of Telemundo viewers asking questions.

The version of the clip spread by Trump campaigners does not show that Biden was responding to a question in Spanish from a woman on his deportation policy. After the screen showing the woman went black, Biden said “I lost that lady” — not “I lost that line” — and Díaz-Balart explained that the pair could talk directly on the matter.

An explanation of the complete exchange was tweeted out by the Noticias Telemundo account shortly after the excised clip went viral.

Telemundo Noticias also tweeted that the network “has never allowed someone who is being interviewed on its news programs to read answers from a teleprompter which would be a clear violation of its editorial policies and standards.”

The Trump campaign has frequently zoned in on conspiracy theories that Biden requires a teleprompter during interviews and speeches, producing deceptively edited videos to prove this point.

Last week, “Late Late Show” host James Cordon called out one of these videos for using footage from Biden’s April appearance on his show, explaining that yes, there had been a prompter present — but it had been for him, not for Biden.

Watch the full Telemundo Noticias interview with Biden below.

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