Editorial

Biden’s Official Photos Are Full Of ‘Broad Scale Doctoring,’ Yet White House Complains About ‘Cheapfakes’

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Leena Nasir Entertainment Reporter
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The White House doesn’t seem to have a problem with the “‘obviously doctored” images of President Joe Biden that make him look good, despite Karine Jean-Pierre complaining during a June press briefing about (totally real) “cheap fake” videos that purportedly painted the president in a negative light.

The White House has resorted to blaming “cheap fakes” and “deceptive editing” for any video depicting Biden doing something embarrassing. Moreover, cracking down on “misinformation” has been a key part of Biden’s Administration, even going so far as to pressure social media companies to censor content they didn’t like, documents obtained by the House Judiciary Committee in November 2023 show. (RELATED: White House Pressured YouTube To ‘Crack Down On Vaccine Misinformation,’ New Docs Reveal)

After the Daily Caller showed celebrity photographer Karl Anderson a series of photos from Biden’s official Twitter account, he said the image manipulation was easy to spot and strategically executed. Anderson, who studied photography at The Sydney College of the Arts, has captured portraits of prominent stars like rock-n-roll legend Chuck Berry, famous rapper Busta Rhymes and R&B superstar Ike Turner. He has also worked with other greats in his field, such as Richard Avedon, Albert Watson and Steven Meisel. Some of Anderson’s clients include The New York Times, Residence Magazine and Plaza Magazine, and he regularly contributes to top Swedish publications Sköna Hem and Residence.

“The first thing that I noticed right away is that very obviously doctored chin and neck, which just sort of cleans up his look and takes away from the elderly gentleman look. I guess, you know, they’re trying to present him as a little bit more youthful,” Anderson told the Caller. “And again, I think a lot of them have the same sort of broad scale doctoring.”

Vito Amati, an accredited photographer and contributor to reputable sites Getty Images and Shutterstock, agreed with Anderson’s assessment, saying Biden’s chin looked a lot more chiseled than your typical 81-year-old’s.

Some images of Biden demonstrate a more natural appearing chin while others don’t, according to Amati, which suggests his photos are altered.

The White House denied that they doctor images to manipulate the way people look.

“This reporting is false. The Biden-Harris White House maintains and follows strict policies against manipulating the appearances of individuals in official photos,” White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson told the Daily Caller.

The Caller asked the White House for copies of the raw images that Amati and Anderson analyzed, but they did not respond in time for publication.

Official Biden Photo:

A video circulated in June showing Biden wandering off from world leaders at the G7 Summit in Italy, which led the country’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to reel him back into the group. Newsmax White House Correspondent James Rosen asked Jean-Pierre about the incident during a press briefing. Jean-Pierre’s explanation? The video was a cheap fake.

“I mean look, as I said that was a cheap fake. That was definitely a cheap fake,” the press secretary said. “It was. It was widely fact-checked. That video was widely fact-checked, including by conservative media on what happened, what occurred. The president walked over to give a thumbs up to divers who had just landed right in front of him, and if you run that tape a little bit longer, you would see what was happening, what the president was actually doing, and it is a cheap fake.”

Amati pointed out how the images of Biden created by media organizations are less edited than those on Biden’s POTUS account. Photojournalists are bound by certain standards and a code of ethics, which should in essence, restrict the touch-ups and editing of particular images. Private photographers whom Biden’s camp employs, however, are free to edit as much as they’d like or are directed to do.

Associated Press’ Code of Ethics for instance, says, “AP pictures must always tell the truth. We do not alter or digitally manipulate the content of a photograph in any way.”

“Images need to be delivered to the customer with accuracy, transparency and free of manipulation and bias,” Getty Images’ Editorial Standards reads in part. “Getty Images does not produce or distribute editorial content that has been created or augmented using generative Artificial Intelligence models.”

Amati analyzed an image of Biden outdoors wearing sunglasses and said that this was a common trick used to cover his aging eyes and give the illusion of a younger-looking president.

“That’s obviously portraying two things. One, obviously trying to keep the younger, hip or cool image,” Amati told the Caller. “It also shields his eyes from being able to see anything like dark circles or wrinkles or any sort of age that would be in someone’s eyes, especially as you get older. So I noticed that as an ongoing theme with a lot of the photos in general,” Amati told the Daily Caller.

Official Biden Photo:

Anderson had similar findings in his analysis.

“They’re always good with the outdoor shot. They always tend to have him in his sunglasses, because then you don’t notice how much his eyes are sinking back into his head,” Anderson told the Caller.

Official Biden Photo:

Wrinkles on Biden’s forehead appeared different in a number of the images, according to Amati, but it was clear they were sometimes smoothed out quite aggressively.

“There’s no neck wrinkles. Forehead, there’s very few” Amati said, analyzing one of the photos. “They did leave in a few of the age spots, you’ll see above on his forehead, like the darker spots, which would be obviously typical of someone who’s 81, and that’s understandable, but everything else seems just a lot more smooth for his age.”

Official Biden Photo:

Official Biden Photo:

Amati believes a healing brush tool and a combination of some dodging, burning and blemish removal were used to doctor some of the images the Caller showed him. Dodging and burning, which is the lightening and darkening of certain areas, are considered legitimate, traditional “darkroom techniques” that don’t change the reality of the images presented. Artificial intelligence (AI) also may have come in handy.

Both photographers agreed that the overall theme was to make the president seem more youthful, which Anderson said is mainly done by brightening his teeth or making his eyes look lighter.

Official Biden Video:

“Even in the videos, there are a couple of video elements and things that I’ve utilized in the past — a simple reflector to brighten eyes, things just to make you seem a little bit more alert and sort of draw the viewer into your eyes a little bit more. Those are sort of the key things I noticed,” Anderson told the Daily Caller.

Official Biden Photo:

Getty Image Of Biden, Not An Official POTUS Photo

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 18: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at an event marking the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in the East Room at the White House on June 18, 2024 in Washington, DC. Biden announced a new program that will provide protections for undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens, allowing them to obtain work authorization and streamline their path to citizenship. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 18: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at an event marking the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in the East Room at the White House on June 18, 2024 in Washington, DC. Biden announced a new program that will provide protections for undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens, allowing them to obtain work authorization and streamline their path to citizenship. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Neurologist Kevin Cannard visited the White House and saw Biden for a neurological exam Jan. 17, Jean-Pierre admitted Tuesday to The Associated Press (AP). Jean-Pierre that same day, however, had told reporters during the press briefing that the doctor’s visit was unrelated to the President. (RELATED: Not A Single Reporter Has Asked KJP About Her History Of Peddling Misinformation On Biden’s Mental State)

The New York Post first reported that Cannard met with Biden’s personal doctor Jan. 17 and two others at The White House, prompting many to question whether the visit had anything to do with Biden.

“Because the date was not mentioned in the question, I want to be clear that the Jan. 17 meeting between Dr. O’Connor and Dr. Cannard was for the President’s physical,” Jean-Pierre told The AP on Tuesday. “It was one of the three times the President has seen Dr. Cannard, each time for his physical. The findings from each exam have been released to the public.”

Biden reportedly had a meeting with more than 20 Democratic governors in early July to discuss his health and fitness for office. Biden told them he had undergone a medical checkup after his poor debate performance, three sources familiar with the discussion told Politico, but Jean-Pierre contradicted those claims by saying Biden hadn’t had any “medical exams” since his February physical. (RELATED: White House Spin Machine Hits Snag After KJP’s Press Briefing Fib)

Deputy press secretary Andrew Bates confirmed Biden saw a doctor to address his purported cold after the debate, CNN White House Correspondent MJ Lee reported.

Jean-Pierre later characterized during a July 5 briefing on Air Force One that the doctor’s visit was a “short, verbal check-in.”

“So he did have a short verbal check-in in the recent days about his cold. It wasn’t a medical exam or physical, just want to be super, super clear about that. It was a conversation and his doctor didn’t think an examination was necessary,” Jean-Pierre said.

Special counsel Robert Hur released a report in February regarding his investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents. Hur noted that during his interviews with Biden, the president presented himself as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

Ian Sams, Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Adviser to the White House Counsel’s office, called Hur’s comments “gratuitous.”

Jean-Pierre echoed Sams’ characterization during a February briefing.

“It was gratuitous. You heard from Ian Sams, my colleague. It is unacceptable, and it does not live in reality. Those are just the facts,” Jean-Pierre said.

Democrats have begun to call for Biden to drop out of the presidential race after a gaffe-filled debate performance in June, where he stumbled, looked confused and seemingly lost his train of thought various times.

“Every Democrat I know is texting that this is bad,” Obama campaign alumnus Ravi Gupta tweeted just 15 minutes into the debate. “Just say it publicly and begin the hard work of creating space in the convention for a selection process. I’ll vote for a corpse over Trump, but this is a suicide mission.”

“I love Joe Biden; he didn’t do well at all,” former adviser to President Barack Obama, Van Jones, said on CNN after the debate. “We are still far from our convention and there is still time to figure out a different way forward if he will allow us to do that.”

The New York Times’ editorial board published a story in late June titled, “To Serve His Country, President Biden Should Leave the Race.”

“The president appeared on Thursday night as the shadow of a great public servant. He struggled to explain what he would accomplish in a second term. He struggled to respond to Mr. Trump’s provocations. He struggled to hold Mr. Trump accountable for his lies, his failures and his chilling plans. More than once, he struggled to make it to the end of a sentence,” The Times wrote.

Thirty-five percent of voters believed Biden had the mental and cognitive health to serve as president June 9 before the first 2024 presidential debate, but the number dropped to 27% after the debate, according to a CBS/YouGov poll.

Both photographers noted the fact that Biden’s age spots remained in a fairly natural state in the majority of the images, even those that had been retouched, “just to give it some sense of realism,” according to Amati.

But one thing is for certain: “There’s definitely something going on.”