Video of Biden Celebrating Imran Khan’s Ousting Is Fabricated
The Claim
A video clip shows U.S. President Joe Biden celebrating the ousting of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
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Emerging story
Various social media users posted a video purporting to show U.S. President Joe Biden watching the Pakistan parliament election results after the no-confidence motion was voted on. Biden is portrayed as celebrating when they announce Khan's ouster in the video.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s team investigated the claim and found it to be fake. By examining credible local news sources, the team found that the circulating video was fabricated. To be more precise, the images of Pakistan’s parliament election on the screen viewed by President Biden were digitally edited.
First Black Woman to Serve as a Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court
In an article by France24, the same video is shared with the original context. It depicts President Biden hosting Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson at the White House to watch the official Senate vote, which would determine if she would join the Supreme Court or not. The video was also posted on the President’s Twitter account, and the votes confirmed Jackson as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court in U.S. history. It was also a victory for Biden, who had previously promised to make the federal judiciary system more inclusive. President Biden and Justice Jackson were celebrating the victory, as can be seen below.
A comparison of the original video and the video in the claim was also performed, revealing that the video in the claim is clearly fabricated, as the clip playing does not fit on the screen, as shown in the photos below.
Khan Accused the U.S. of Conspiring Against Him
The video’s fabrication and the claim come against the backdrop of a vote of no-confidence against Pakistan’s Former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Earlier, Khan has repeatedly alleged that a foreign conspiracy was behind the change of government, particularly accusing the U.S. of conspiring against him and orchestrating his removal. Following Khan's ouster, Pakistani parliament members elected Shahbaz Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League, to lead the cabinet. Sharif received 174 votes out of a total of 342. The move came after Sharif led a weeks-long campaign to remove Khan over “allegations of poor governance and economic mismanagement.” Sharif will remain Prime Minister until October 2023, when elections will commence in Pakistan.
Therefore, based on the findings, Misbar’s team confirms that the video in the claim is fake and fabricated. President Biden was celebrating Ketanji Brown Jackson becoming the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court in U.S. history, not Imran Khan's ouster.
