Fact check: Video altered to show Kentucky governor’s son handing Biden a vial of blood
The claim: A video shows a boy handing Joe Biden a vial of blood
The video shows Joe Biden standing next to a boy in a blue polo shirt. In the background, ominous music plays.
Then, the boy appears to hand the president a vial.
“Joe Biden accepts a vial of blood, handed to him by a boy,” the caption says. “Looks like the rumors of him sucking the blood of kids are 100% true!”
The video, published Nov. 21 on Facebook by the page Liberal Loony Bin, accumulated more than 1,100 views within a month. More recent versions of the clip have racked up thousands of additional views on Instagram.
“Is this edited??” one user wrote in a Dec. 16 post.
Turns out, it is.
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As other independent fact-checking organizations have reported, the video is doctored. The original clip does not show the boy passing Biden a vial of blood. The false claim plays into the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory.
USA TODAY reached out to social media users who shared the claim for comment.
Clip doctored to add blood vial
The video in the social media posts stems from a July 21 broadcast from a Fox-affiliated TV station in Cincinnati, according to Check Your Fact.
In the video, Biden is seen arriving aboard Air Force One at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. About 12 minutes into the clip, the president disembarks and greets a small group of people – including the boy featured in the social media videos.
That boy is Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s son, Will. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Biden met with Beshear and his family upon his arrival at the airport.
At one point in the broadcast, Biden is pictured taking Will Beshear’s hand. The president appears to pass him an unknown dark object, but it is not a vial of blood, as the social media posts claim.
That false assertion plays into the false QAnon conspiracy theory.
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The theory, which has been repeatedly debunked, claims a group of well-known politicians and celebrities are part of a global, satanic child sex trafficking ring. QAnon adherents erroneously believe public figures like Oprah Winfrey and Tom Hanks sexually abuse, kill and drink the blood of children to get a life-extending chemical called adrenochrome.
USA TODAY reached out to Beshear’s office for comment.
Our rating: Altered
Based on our research, we rate ALTERED a video that claims to show a boy handing Biden a vial of blood. The original video does not show Beshear’s son passing the president a vial of blood. That false claim plays into the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory.
Our fact-check sources:
- Check Your Fact, Dec. 20, FACT CHECK: VIRAL VIDEO CLAIMS TO SHOW A BOY GIVING JOE BIDEN A VIAL OF BLOOD
- PolitiFact, Dec. 17, Video of child giving Biden vial of blood to drink is doctored
- WXIX-TV, July 21, Facebook video
- The Cincinnati Enquirer, July 21, Live updates: President Joe Biden visits Cincinnati for town hall, union training center tour
- Louisville Courier Journal, July 20, 2020, An emotional Andy Beshear denounces covert photos of son at baseball games being posted online
- USA TODAY, Sept. 17, 2020, Debunked QAnon conspiracy theories are seeping into mainstream social media. Don’t be fooled.
- USA TODAY, Feb. 4, What is QAnon? What to know about the baseless, far-right conspiracy theory connected to Marjorie Taylor Greene
- Los Angeles Magazine, Aug. 17, 2020, Inside QAnon, the Conspiracy Cult that’s Devouring America
- USA TODAY, March 10, Fact check: No, Oprah did not wear an ankle monitor during interview with Harry and Meghan
- USA TODAY, Aug. 13, 2020, Fact check: Tom Hanks is now a Greek citizen, but pedophilia has nothing to do with it
*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from USA TODAY can be found here ***
