Fact check: Profane chant was digitally edited into a Biden speech on gun violence

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The claim: Video shows crowd yelling profanities at Joe Biden during speech

A Jan. 23 Instagram video shows President Joe Biden giving a speech about legislation addressing gun violence.

“I’m dealing with gun violence," he says, "because make no mistake...”

At that moment, what sounds like a crowd of people cuts Biden off and chants, “F--- Joe Biden.”

“Sit down,” Biden says as the purported chanting continues, “You’ll hear what I have to say.”

The post was liked more than 11,000 times in four days.

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Our rating: Altered

The audio of the crowd shouting profanities was digitally edited into the video. When Biden delivered the speech last summer on the South Lawn of the White House, he was not interrupted by a heckling crowd shouting profanities. Instead, a single person interjected during the speech.

In original version of Biden’s speech, no crowd chants

The video shows remarks made by Biden on July 11, 2022, about the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which expanded mental health services in schools.

No chanting is audible in the original video of the president’s speech.

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Biden does pause, as shown in the post, but not because of a group chant. Instead, an audience member says, “We have to do more than that! We have to open an office in the White House. I’ve been trying to tell you this for years.”

The person’s exact words are inaudible in the video, but a portion of the comment is documented in the White House’s official transcript of the speech.

That audience member was Manuel Oliver, whose son was murdered in the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Parkland, Florida, Reuters reported.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the claim for comment.

PolitiFact, the Associated Press and Reuters also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Video altered to add profane heckling to Biden speech