A story that went viral in right-wing circles about President Joe Biden allegedly requesting to sit during the upcoming presidential debate on CNN was debunked by the network.
On Monday right-wing news outlet ‘Washington Reporter’ posted on X that two anonymous sources, including one at CNN, told them that “the Biden Campaign is trying to renegotiate the debate rules to allow Biden to be seated.”
The post was reshared by prominent Republicans including Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO.)
But CNN said there is no truth to the claim.
The network told Forbes, “it’s not accurate” and that both Biden and Donald Trump agreed to CNN’s proposed format when they accepted the network’s invitation to debate.
It was the latest attempt by supporters of Trump to play up concerns about Biden’s age ahead of the debate.
Last week, the New York Post edited a clip from Biden at the G7 in a misleading way to suggest that the president had wandered off. A more complete video shows that Biden had turned to face a skydiver who had landed on his left. Over the weekend the New York Post again shared a video of Biden ‘freezing’ at a fundraiser with former President Barack Obama. However attendees at the fundraiser said that was not the case.
“It tells you everything that we need to know about how desperate Republicans are here,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday, labelling the clips as “cheapfake” videos.
CNN will host the first presidential debate between June 27. The debate will include two commercial breaks, no props and muted microphones except when recognized to speak, the network said.
