A video circulating on social media claims to show presidential candidate Joe Biden incessantly coughing at a recent rally, implying the presidential candidate has COVID-19. This is false, the footage has been selectively edited. On Oct. 2 Biden tested negative for COVID-19.
The misleading video surged hours after President Donald Trump said he and Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 2 ( here )
A tweet featuring the video with over 200 retweets here reads “So… Biden was coughing yesterday like crazy. Today the President announced he has Covid. What do you think Joe’s chances are?”
Other posts are visible here , here , here .
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his wife Jill have tested negative for coronavirus, their doctor said in a statement on Oct. 2 ( here ).
The selectively edited video features footage from two different rallies on Sept. 30.
Some of the clips in this video show Biden at a campaign rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Full footage of the event is visible here and youtu.be/9ZCK0nYMGGg .
Throughout the speech, which was over 30 minutes long, Biden is seen coughing and clearing his throat several times ( bit.ly/2GnBAj7 , bit.ly/33m1dcR , bit.ly/2EUFrDL , bit.ly/2EV0Mgn , bit.ly/3nec68s , bit.ly/3ijFvKQ , bit.ly/2HSIGN5 , bit.ly/34gQ50k , bit.ly/33nVaEy ). While Joe Biden did cough multiple times during this speech, most of his coughs where not consecutive, as implied by the edited video.
The second footage featured in this edited video shows Biden at a campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During this speech, over 15 minutes long, Biden is seen coughing consecutively once bit.ly/34eOF6m (clip used at the beginning of the altered video).
Other moments in which Biden coughed or cleared his throat during this Pittsburgh speech are visible bit.ly/3l8jbFY , bit.ly/34z9AkX , bit.ly/3ijGydK , bit.ly/3cUp6LD , bit.ly/2SmZsWK , bit.ly/3cQppak , bit.ly/3iqLFsK .
VERDICT
Altered. Selectively edited video to show Biden coughing incessantly takes clips from two separate speeches on Sept. 30. On Oct. 2 Biden tested negative for COVID-19.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here
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