NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn鈥檛 happen this week
A video shows President Joe Biden trying to sit in a chair that wasn鈥檛 there during a ceremony in Normandy, France. However, full footage of the ceremony shows the president looking over his shoulder for his chair and pausing before taking a seat.
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. 蘑菇影院 checked them out.
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Video edited to make it appear Biden tried to sit down when there wasn鈥檛 a chair
CLAIM: A video shows President Joe Biden trying to sit in a chair that wasn鈥檛 there during a ceremony in Normandy, France, commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
THE FACTS: The video, in which Biden鈥檚 chair is for the most part clearly visible, is cut before the president sits down. of the ceremony shows the president looking over his shoulder for his chair and pausing before taking a seat.
As World War II veterans and world leaders gathered to honor the famed Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France, social media users shared the short clip to further an ongoing narrative that Biden is infirm.
In the video, Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands while standing between their wives, first ladies Jill Biden and Brigitte Macron. The president then briefly looks over his left shoulder, bends over and hovers in that position as U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is announced as the event鈥檚 next speaker.
鈥淭his is disturbing,鈥� reads one X post. 鈥淧res. Biden is literally trying to find the invisible chair to sit in. It鈥檚 just all so sad, and disgraceful to those in attendance who desire to honor the brave men who died to protect our nation from tyrannical governments.鈥�
Another X post states: 鈥淏iden is trying to sit in a chair that doesn鈥檛 exist. The problem is that he intends to continue running for the presidential elections.鈥�
But the video spreading online cuts off right before Biden takes a seat. In footage of the ceremony , the president glances at his chair, bends over, pauses as Austin鈥檚 introduction begins and then sits down at the same time as Macron, their wives and the people sitting behind them. Biden鈥檚 chair is visible throughout the video although it is obscured in some sections.
Biden spoke later in the event, pledging 鈥渨e will not walk away鈥� from Ukraine, drawing a direct line from the fight to liberate Europe from Nazi domination to today鈥檚 war against Russian aggression. He called D-Day a 鈥減owerful illustration of how alliances, real alliances make us stronger.鈥� The June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion was unprecedented in its scale and audacity, using the largest-ever armada of ships, troops, planes and vehicles to punch a hole in Adolf Hitler鈥檚 defenses in western Europe and change the course of World War II.
Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed in Normandy that day, most from the U.S., Britain and Canada. They faced around 50,000 German troops.
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Anti-abortion activist convicted for blockading a reproductive health clinic, not for praying there
CLAIM: A 75-year-old woman named Paulette Harlow was sentenced to two years in prison for praying outside an abortion clinic in Washington.
THE FACTS: Harlow in August 2023 of federal civil rights offenses for her role in the October 2020 invasion and blockade of the Washington Surgi-Clinic. Along with other anti-abortion activists, Harlow used force and physical obstruction to execute the blockade, . She was sentenced to 24 months in prison on Friday.
Social media users are misrepresenting Harlow鈥檚 crimes, alleging that she is being put behind bars because she chose to pray beside the clinic.
鈥淎 DC judge just sentenced 75-year-old Paulette Harlow, who is in poor health, to 2 years in prison for praying outside an abortion clinic,鈥� reads one X post that had received approximately 15,000 likes and 9,800 shares as of Wednesday. 鈥淗er husband fears she might die there.鈥�
An Instagram post that shared a screenshot of the X post states: 鈥淭he justice system has been broken for a long time and needs a f---ing overhaul. It鈥檚 not going to happen overnight but it NEEDS to happen.鈥�
The post, which received more than 4,200 likes, also referenced former President Donald Trump鈥檚 conviction on 34 felony counts last week. 鈥淪top saying 鈥榠f鈥� they can do it to Trump, they can do it to you,鈥� it reads. 鈥淭hey already ARE doing it to you.鈥�
But Harlow, who is named in as Paula 鈥淧aulette鈥� Harlow, isn鈥檛 getting prison time for praying outside the clinic.
The 75-year-old was sentenced to two years behind bars after being convicted on for taking part in the blockade of the Washington Surgi-Clinic: felony conspiracy against civil rights and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, more commonly known as the FACE Act.
Enacted in 1994, the federal prohibits physically obstructing or using the threat of force to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking reproductive health services. The law also prohibits damaging property at abortion clinics and other reproductive health centers.
Harlow was charged , including the blockade鈥檚 leaders, Lauren Handy and Jonathan Darnel. She was the last to be sentenced. All but one of the defendants were on the same charges as Harlow. The other pleaded guilty to violating the FACE Act. Handy and Darnel were sentenced to the most prison time, 57 months and 34 months, respectively. The rest received sentences ranging from 10 to 27 months.
鈥淭hese 10 defendants have been held accountable for using force, threatening to use force and physically obstructing access to reproductive health care in the District of Columbia,鈥� Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department鈥檚 Civil Rights Division .
Martin Cannon, one of the defendants鈥� attorneys, said in a statement Handy鈥檚 sentencing on May 14 that she and her co-defendants were united in non-violence and that 鈥渢hey conspired to be peaceful.鈥�
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Posts spread image of satirical 鈥楪ayo鈥� condiment as real
CLAIM: An image shows a bottle of rainbow-colored mayonnaise called 鈥淕ayo鈥� that was released by Kraft to celebrate Pride Month.
THE FACTS: The image was fabricated. It was in 2022 by a social media user who goes by the name and frequently shares satirical images of fake products based on the real thing. Kraft Heinz, the company that owns the Kraft brand, confirmed to 蘑菇影院 that 鈥淕ayo鈥� is not real.
As this year鈥檚 Pride Month kicked off on Saturday, the image spread out of context on social media, implying that 鈥淕ayo鈥� is an actual product.
It shows someone鈥檚 hand holding a bottle of what is supposedly rainbow-colored mayonnaise in front of a grocery store shelf. 鈥淩eal Gayo,鈥� the label reads, along with taglines such as 鈥淪mooth & Sassy鈥� and 鈥淎dd Pride to your next BLT.鈥� The Kraft logo also appears on the bottle.
Many posts shared the image with an added caption that reads, 鈥渨hat the hell is this.鈥� One on Instagram had received more than 29,000 likes as of Monday.
But no such condiment exists.
The image, which has been misrepresented online during previous Pride Months, was created by the social media user Doctor Photograph, whose real name is George. He declined to give his last name due to concerns that his family could be harassed if it is made public.
Doctor Photograph鈥檚 , 鈥淚 create photoshopped labels, bootleg toys & doctored images.鈥� He first shared the 鈥淕ayo鈥� image with the hashtags 鈥�#photoshopped鈥� and 鈥�#thatlooksdoctored.鈥� The user confirmed to the 蘑菇影院 in an email that the image, which he made in Photoshop, 鈥渨as definitely created as a joke for my followers.鈥�
鈥淢y photoshops have been stolen/repurposed in the past but in those instances, I felt like my work was being recycled for likes, whereas in this case I felt like somebody used my work to stoke hate, which I really struggled with,鈥� he added.
Kraft Heinz confirmed to the 蘑菇影院 in an emailed statement that 鈥渢his is not a real product.鈥�
Doctor Photograph shared a in 2021, with minor differences. For example, the supposed rainbow of mayonnaise is horizontal rather than vertical and the label uses the tagline, 鈥淭ake Pride in your next sandwich.鈥� Although the added caption in the image spreading on social media hides it, both fake labels include the text 鈥�(DoctorPhotograph).鈥�
A to the top of Doctor Photograph鈥檚 X profile shows the original photo of Kraft mayonnaise that he edited, along with both versions of the satirical 鈥淕ayo.鈥� Doctor Photograph posts many other images of fake satirical products, such as and
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