Fact check: Did TV Host  Lambast US First Lady, Jill  over President Biden’s Failures?

Fact check: Did TV Host  Lambast US First Lady, Jill  over President Biden’s Failures?

Claims: A viral video circulating online purports to show a TV host lambasting the First Lady of the United States, Jill Biden accusing her of hypocrisy, shamelessnes and emptiness. The host also hurled invectives at President Biden, questioning his mental and physical capabilities, suggesting he is being manipulated like a puppet. 

Full text: the one minute 54 sec clip from a supposed TV show, “The View”, featuring Whoopi Goldberg and other co-hosts, started with the first lady Jill showering encomium on her husband the President. 

The screen featured the rider, “First Lady Dr. Jill Biden Discusses the 2024 Election.”

A guest listens alongside Goldberg as the show host rashly tooks over the conversation from Jill accusing the First Lady of complicity in her husband’s supposed exploitation by his handlers.

The text accompanying the TikTok video reads as follows: “Wow! Can you imagine a Nigerian journalist being brave enough to say this to a sitting Nigerian First Lady? This speaks volumes about the practice of journalism in a functional democracy!”

The transcript of the video footage reads thus: “Okay so madam first lady respectfully, it’s very bold of you to sit and talk about good and evil given your husband has demonized half of the country and continues to do so while prosecuting his political opponent. Now Joe has been in politics for 48 years, including his presidency, yet you have nothing to show for otherwise you wouldn’t have spent your time here talking about his actual accomplishment instead saying empty words and finally I agree, this election is not about age, it’s about being able to walk without getting lost, it’s about being able to find your way off a stage, it’s about being able to go up and down the stairs without falling, it’s about being able to finish a sentence, all of which Joe is not able to do on a daily basis, I have seen it, people out there have seen it, even Whoopi have seen it I wish she were honest about it, and most importantly, you have seen it. We all know Joe is not well, we all know he’s not in control and listen, I am not a fan of his, but I would say you should be ashamed of yourself for putting him through this and letting his handlers abuse him like a puppet, shame on you!”

Verification: To verify the video’s authenticity, PRNigeria fact-check team used keyframe extraction and reverse image search on InVid verifier. 

The results revealed that the supposed host on the TV show is actually Damon Imani, an Iranian-born producer and artist known for creating video content on various topics, including societal issues, news, and current events. 

Further investigation showed that Damon Imani relocated to Denmark in 2008. Although his parents had some political inclinations, it wasn’t until 2016, when he learned about Donald J. Trump, that Damon became involved in political parody. He was motivated by his perception of bias against President Trump in the U.S. mainstream media.

Further findings revealed the original video which was filmed when Jill was hosted on “The View” by Goldberg and co-hosts and her new children’s book titled “Willow the White House Cat” was featured. Imani was not on the original set. 

It turned out that Damon Imani created a mock appearance using the original video, exploiting Dr. Jill Biden’s talk show visit to mock President Joe Biden as part of his satirical content.

PRNigeria fact-check team also discovered that Damon has a history of creating similar parody videos targeting world leaders and even a CNN news anchor, Dana Bash, as seen here, here and here. 

Conclusion: Findings by PRNigeria revealed that the TV talk show appearance was actually a satirical content created by Damon Imani from an original appearance of first lady Jill Biden on a talk show “The View” which featured her new book, “Willow the White House Cat.” The Imani’s appearance was entirely fabricated and does not depict actual event. 

PRNigeria therefore concludes that the claim that a TV host lambasted US first lady Jill Biden over her husband President Biden is False. 

By PRNigeria