No, Video Does Not Show CNN’s David Chalian Referring to Michelle Obama as ‘Big Mike’

In late June 2024, online users shared a video claiming the clip showed CNN’s David Chalian, who serves as the network’s vice president of political coverage and political director, referring to former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama as “Big Mike.”

For example, the feeds of X users @3orovik, @MAGA__Patriot and @Frank__Massaro all hosted prominent postings of the video, as did other users on Facebook, Truth Social and YouTube.

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However, the truth is, the video — the audio track in particular — was manipulated. In reality, Chalian never called Michelle Obama “Big Mike.” (The nickname references a baseless, partisan conspiracy theory claiming the former first lady was born male and is now a transgender woman.)

A user on X named il Donaldo Trumpo (@PapiTrumpo), whose bio mentions parody content, appeared to be the likely creator of the video. The user posted the clip on June 27, just after the conclusion of the first U.S. presidential candidate debate of 2024. It appears one or more artificial-intelligence (AI) tools was used to create the fake vocals. The account’s feed featured numerous other recent examples of manipulated videos.

We contacted @PapiTrumpo to ask about the video and will update this story if we receive a response.

You can watch the original, unmanipulated CNN broadcast featuring Chalian on the TV News Archive.

Sources