Video of Biden calling for a military draft is AI-generated, not real | Fact check

Joedy McCreary, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: Video shows Biden announcing the reinstatement of the draft

An Oct. 15 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a TikTok video of a speech purportedly made by President Joe Biden.

In the clip, which starts mid-sentence, Biden can be heard announcing plans to “invoke the Selective Service Act, as is my authority as president.”

It cuts to a man using profanities to express his opposition to a draft. Text superimposed on the video reads, “No way the draft.”

It was shared more than 400 times in four days. An iteration of the post was shared on TikTok more than 20,000 times in five days.

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Our rating: Altered

The video of Biden is fabricated. A spokesperson for the Selective Service System said the claim is false and that there has been no discussion of bringing back the draft.

Biden video created using AI

The opening nine seconds of blurry, tightly cropped footage showing Biden originated from a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, by the Post Millenial in February.

The X post's caption identifies it as fabricated, stating, "AI imagines what would happen if Biden declares and activates the Selective Service Act and begins drafting 20 years old (sic) to war."

The original video also includes footage of conservative commentator Jack Posobiec explaining the video was created using artificial intelligence.

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Biden does not have the unilateral power to call for a military draft, according to the Selective Service System, which maintains the list of U.S. citizens who would be eligible for it. Congress also must authorize it, according to the agency.

The Selective Service System enumerates a clear sequence of events that would precede a draft.

First, a national emergency must occur of such severity that it would exceed the Department of Defense’s ability to recruit and maintain its enlistment numbers. Congress then would have to pass a bill amending the Military Selective Service Act and beginning the draft process. The system would be activated once the president signs it into law. A draft lottery, consisting of a nationally televised and live-streamed random drawing of birthdays and numbers, would then follow.

“There has been no discussions with Selective Service with any other federal or state agency regarding reinstituting the draft,” agency spokesperson Robert Kenny told USA TODAY in an email.

The TikTok video also includes a mention of “sending your sons and daughters to war.” But the text of the law states that only men are required to register, and the act would have to be amended for that mandate to extend to women.

The U.S. has not drafted soldiers since 1973, during the final years of the Vietnam War. Then-President Jimmy Carter in 1980 reinstated the requirement that almost all men between the ages of 18 and 25 who live in the U.S. register for the draft.

While the TikTok video does not include the mention of any specific conflicts, the timing of its posting strongly suggests it is a response to the latest war between Israel and Hamas.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the post but did not immediately receive responses.

PolitiFact also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden video calling for draft created with AI | Fact check