A doctored video has been circulating, falsely alleging that US President Joe Biden has expressed opposition towards the transgender community. The video shows him mocking transwomen and making offensive transphobic comments during a recent speech.
Many Facebook posts have commended Biden for the offensive comments towards transgender individuals that he can be heard articulating in the doctored video.
The original clip accessed is where Biden is heard talking about the aid offered by US and NATO to Ukraine. We found that the video has been overlaid and edited with an audio where Biden is heard making transphobic remarks. BOOM has discovered this.
He hears the saying that they can no longer live with the unbearable disappointment and shame, and although relieved, you will bury your heartbroken parents. Eventually, it will be too much to bear, and you will buy a rope to plunge into the cold abyss and tie a noose. Deep inside, you feel the creeping depression, like a weed that crushes you under its unbearable weight. He adds to the shame of their existence, making fun of transgender people behind their parents’ backs. You are a twisted man, a crude mockery of nature’s perfection, with no eggs, no ovaries, and no womb. You will never be a real woman.
Share and listen to it, but do not have ownership of the video. I do not possess ownership of the video, but I listen to it and share it. This content should spread rapidly to inform the easily deceived individuals manipulated by certain immoral human rights. The world has endured enough hypocrisy. When it comes to effective communication, the Americans are unbeatable. I greatly admire the power and elegance of this communication. Homosexuality is unnatural and also degrades humanity, having no place in modern society. The video has gone viral on Facebook with the caption, “Finally, the first President in the world has spoken it clearly, simply, and unmistakably in English.”
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The video is also going around on Twitter.
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Fact Check.
In his initial speech, Biden discusses Ukraine, and the audio in the video clip has been superimposed. BOOM discovered that the clip has been altered, and Biden did not make any derogatory comments towards transgender individuals.
A reverse image search on Google yielded a screenshot of an article published on CNBC on January 25, 2023, headlined “U.S. Will send Abrams tanks to Ukraine ahead of expected Russian offensive.” The article spoke about the aid provided by NATO and the USA to Ukraine in their war effort against Russia’s invasion, which marked 11 months on January 24. Thanks to the opportunity taken by Biden and Ukraine’s support for Germany-like nations, Ukraine’s offensive against Russia was discussed.
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We discovered a video on YouTube, which was uploaded by Voice of America, containing the complete address. Based on this, we searched for clips.
In this video, Biden did not mention the transgender community. It is important to mention that we also discovered a transcript of this speech on the official website of the President of the United States. Read it here.
The visuals of the flags in the background and the presence of Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin III in the viral clip and the original clip are identical. Biden’s hand gestures at the 0:51 mark of the viral clip and 4:56 of the original clip are also identical.
Here is a comparison between the two:
A Deepfake Biden Video?
The creation of this video utilized a similar platform. It is conceivable that ElevenLabs, a platform employing AI for voice synthesis and replication, was referenced. Additionally, they made reference to digital forensic specialists who asserted that the video was produced utilizing “an innovative set of AI resources, enabling individuals to swiftly generate audio that mimics a person’s voice with minimal effort,” as stated in a report by ABC News.
According to The Verge, ElevenLabs’ technology, which ensures the malicious use of their tech on Twitter, has released a new series of guidelines on the platform, in place of this. The technology has already been used on 4chan to imitate the voices of celebrities.
The second process is to use an Adversarial Generative Network to alter the movements of Biden’s mouth from the video source to match the created audio in the deepfake. The algorithm is trained to then translate the transphobic false speech into text. This can be quickly achieved in just 30 seconds of data. The first process is to clone Joe Biden’s voice, which takes a sample of his voice as a training sample. Lees also explained that two open-source deepfake algorithms were used to make this video. BOOM also spoke to Dr. Dominic Lees, an Associate Professor of Filmmaking and deepfake researcher at the University of Reading, who confirmed that the video had been digitally altered.
Biden’s statement on Reddit led to a Google search for the keyword A, using copy-pasted words. The transphobic text used in Biden’s fake speech has been found on multiple online platforms. Additionally,
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Excerpts of this declaration can also be found here and here. BOOM could not autonomously verify the origin of this statement.
Henry Ajder, an advisor and speaker specializing in generative AI and synthetic media revolution, stated that imperfections can be observed in the rendering of teeth and accurate mouth movements for specific phrases. However, these imperfections are not effectively hidden by the low quality of the video. Ajder also highlighted the clear contradiction between Biden’s stance on transgender individuals and the subject matter of this deepfake. Additionally, he mentioned that this video serves as a prominent illustration of the combination of synthetic lip synchronization and text to speech voice cloning. Ajder was also interviewed by BOOM on this matter.
In the United States, Joe Biden addressed transgender individuals with support, respect, and the dignity they deserve on International Transgender Day of Visibility, which was marked in March 2022. His speeches not only indicate his support for the LGBTQ+ community, but also address their concerns. There is no evidence of Joe Biden making transphobic comments in the past.