Twitter labeled a video shared by House Minority Whip Steve Scalise as “manipulated media” Sunday after learning it altered a question that activist Ady Barkan asked Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
The manipulated video shared by Scalise showed Barkan asking Biden if “we agree that we can redirect some of the funding for police?” In response, Biden agreed, saying, “Yes, absolutely.”
The Republican Louisiana congressman’s tweet accused Democrats of wanting “No police. Mob rule. Total chaos.”
Scalise’s video, which has since been deleted, added “for police” into Barkan’s question, according to The Hill. Barkan speaks using a computerized voice due to his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The original video shows that Barkan did not say “for police,” and that the words were added afterwards using the same computerized voice.
“These are not my words,” Barkan tweeted regarding Scalise’s video. “I have lost my ability to speak, but not my agency or my thoughts.” (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Steve Scalise To Donate Millions To NRCC In Effort To Win Back The House)
Barkan continued, “You and your team have doctored my words for your own political gain. Please remove this video immediately. You owe the entire disability community an apology.”
These are not my words.
I have lost my ability to speak, but not my agency or my thoughts.
You and your team have doctored my words for your own political gain.
Please remove this video immediately. You owe the entire disability community an apology. https://t.co/N6G5RgMXlO
— Ady Barkan (@AdyBarkan) August 30, 2020
Scalise defended the manipulated video in an interview with Fox & Friends on Monday morning, although he has deleted the tweet.
“Well, you know, look, it shouldn’t have been edited, but at the same time the comments were always about – in fact, twice in that interview, he asked Joe Biden if he was for redirecting money away from police and in both times Joe Biden said ‘yes.’ And, you saw in that last response, Joe was excited about saying ‘yes,’ that he would redirect money away from police,” Scalise said.
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