NBC News' Irresponsible Airing of Deceptively Edited Clip of Joe Biden

The Today show on NBC News aired a deceptively edited clip of Joe Biden, which appears to have originated with the Trump campaign, and purports to show the former vice president mixing up Presidents Donald Trump and George W. Bush. The clip was aired in a video package about the final week of the campaign, and White House correspondent Kristen Welker reported that Biden was "making headlines overnight after appearing to confuse his opponent's name." However, further investigation reveals that the "George" to whom Biden was referring was actually comedian George Lopez, who was interviewing the former vice president and his wife.

Key Takeaways:

• NBC News aired a deceptively edited clip of Joe Biden, which appears to have originated with the Trump campaign, and purports to show the former vice president mixing up Presidents Donald Trump and George W. Bush.
• The clip was aired in a video package about the final week of the campaign, and White House correspondent Kristen Welker reported that Biden was "making headlines overnight after appearing to confuse his opponent's name."
• Further investigation reveals that the "George" to whom Biden was referring was actually comedian George Lopez, who was interviewing the former vice president and his wife.
• NBC News added an editor's note to its website acknowledging that Biden was talking with George Lopez, but the damage had already been done as Trump's allies pushed the fake-news story as far and wide as they could.
• Fox News pundit Brit Hume retweeted the Fox story with its original headline, and Donald Trump Jr. tweeted, "Did Biden think he was running against George Bush or George Washington?"
• The president himself worked the bit into his latest rally speech in Pennsylvania, saying, "He can't remember my name! Now, I'm not that big of an ego guy, but I'm the candidate and I happen to be president. He could not remember my name yesterday, this is what you're putting in office!"
• NBC News' irresponsible airing of the deceptively edited clip has likely contributed to the spread of misinformation and has unfairly maligned Joe Biden's reputation.

Statistics:

• The clip in question came from a celebrity-filled "I Will Vote" concert live stream Sunday night.
• The "Trump War Room" Twitter account posted the exact same 12 seconds that NBC aired on Sunday night.
• Fox News' website posted a story with the original headline, "Joe Biden appears to confuse Trump with former President George W. Bush."
• After the story was updated, Fox News pundit Brit Hume retweeted the story with the updated headline, along with the comment, "Wondering why Biden has gone to ground again? This may help explain it."

Sources:

• NBC News' Today show
• The Daily Beast
• Fox News
• The Trump War Room Twitter account
• NBC News' editor's note
• Donald Trump Jr.'s tweet
• Brit Hume's tweet
• Fox News' updated story
• NBC News' acknowledgment of the error