Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Disabled Activist Perfectly Shames Pro-Trump Congressman for Falsely Editing Words Into Biden Interview

Disabled Activist Perfectly Shames Pro-Trump Congressman for Falsely Editing Words Into Biden Interview
Handout/DNCC via Getty Images // Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

With the 2020 election only months away, President Donald Trump and his allies continue to put forth the false claim that Democratic nominee Joe Biden wants to defund the police.

Judging from a video posted by House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), they're willing to falsify media in order to prop up the narrative.


Scalise posted a clip of Biden speaking with Ady Barkan, a notable activist for disabled rights and healthcare access.

Barkan lives with the neurodegenerative disease ALS, and is unable to speak using his own voice, so he relies on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), which in his case is a computerized voice.

Scalise took advantage of that with the video, in which Barkan appears to ask Biden:

"But do we agree that we can redirect some of the funding for police?"

Biden responds:

"Exactly."

But Barkan never said the words "for police" at all.

Watch a comparison of the original video and the GOP's version below.

Barkan called out Scalise directly for posting the video, which was later flagged by Twitter and subsequently deleted.

Scalise responded on Twitter, conceding to remove the video but insisting that its premise was right.

In reality, Biden's plan actually offers expanded budgets to local police forces and seeks to pump more resources into the availability of social workers and other deescalation specialists to work within these departments.

Scalise was asked about the doctored video on Fox and Friends.

When asked about manipulating the video, Scalise said:

"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 asks Joe Biden if he was for redirecting money away from police and in both times Joe Biden said yes."

This isn't entirely accurate either.

In the interview, Barkan asks Biden if he'd be open to redirecting resources for some interactions that don't require militarized police officers, lessening the likelihood of potentially deadly interactions between armed police officers and unarmed Black Americans disproportionately targeted with police violence.

Watch below.

Joe Biden and Ady Barkan Discuss Police Reform and Mental Health Care | NowThiswww.youtube.com

Scalise was widely shamed for the deceptive tactic.





There were several who called for the Congressman to resign.




More from People/donald-trump

Signal app logo; J.D. Vance
Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Signal's Founder Epically Roasts Vance Over The Disastrous Group Chat Debacle

Signal founder Matthew Rosenfeld, better known by the pseudonym Moxie Marlinspike, mocked Vice President J.D. Vance after the app found itself at the center of the Trump administration's group text scandal.

Rosenfeld's post came amid revelations that Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was invited into a Signal chat with high-level Trump administration officials, particularly Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussing military strategy surrounding war strikes in Yemen.

Keep ReadingShow less
MTG, Martha Kelner
C-SPAN

MTG Blasted For Her Unhinged Reaction To A UK Reporter Asking Her A Question

Far right Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was bashed for viciously shutting down a British reporter who had a question about the Signal group chat scandal, AKA "Signalgate."

Republican President Donald Trump's administration continues to downplay concerns after The Atlantic'seditor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was mistakenly added to the Signal messaging app's group chat in which U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared with top intelligence officials the specific weapons programs regarding the U.S. war strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Rachel Maddow
MSNBC

Rachel Maddow Gives Trump A Blistering Reality Check After His 'Perfect' Presidency Claims

MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow criticized President Donald Trump after he claimed "we've had two perfect months" to start out his presidency—conveniently downplaying "Signalgate" and ignoring all the scandals that have thus far struck his administration.

You can see his comments to reporters in the video below:

Keep ReadingShow less
train crossing in small town
craig kerwien on Unsplash

People Share Their Most Embarrassing Small Town Stories

I lived most of my life in a very small town in Northern Maine. There were about 200 kids in my high school and there were 56 kids in my graduating class—we were tied with the class of 1961 for the largest class ever.

When the primary employer in town—Pinkham Lumber Mill—shut down, the town got even smaller. Now the senior class is considered large if it reaches double digits.

Keep ReadingShow less
A post-it with "I Quit" written on it over a computer keypad
a yellow notepad on a keyboard
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

People Reveal Why They Quit Their Job On The First Day

As much as anyone may want to quit a job, at the end of the day it's easier said than done.

For one thing, even if people are working soul-sucking jobs that barely cover expenses, they still can't afford to lose the paycheck, until something better comes along.

Keep ReadingShow less