Did Joe Biden admit that he put together a "voter fraud organization"? No, that comment is taken out of context. A video clip of the former vice president shows him saying, "We have put together the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics." The Democratic nominee for president's words were selectively clipped from a podcast in which he was answering a question about how the campaign was prepared to prevent suppression of Democratic votes.
The claim appeared as a post (archived here) where it was published by Diamond and Silk on Facebook on November 4, 2020. It opened:
Biden admitted to the fraud we see happening now in this video: "We have put together the most extensive and inclusive VOTER FRAUD organization in the history of American politics"
They already had this planned...
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thu Nov 5 18:34:38 2020 UTC)
The video is from an appearance Biden made on the Pod Save America podcast on October 24, 2020. That video was edited to remove context, making his answer about work the campaign had done to prevent voter fraud sound like he was planning to commit fraud.
The Facebook posts only shows a 24-second portion of Biden speaking. On it he says:
Secondly, we're in a situation where we have put together, and you guys did it for our administration -- President Obama's administration before this -- we have put together I think the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics."
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany posted the video on her personal Twitter account claiming Biden admitted to voter fraud.
🚨🚨 BIDEN ADMITS TO VOTER FRAUD! 🚨🚨@JoeBiden brags about having the "most extensive VOTER FRAUD organization" in history‼️
-- Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) October 24, 2020
WATCH ⬇️pic.twitter.com/ft7u07kUX0
Biden was responding to a question posed by Dan Pfeiffer, a former adviser to President Barack Obama. Pfeiffer asked what Biden would tell people who hadn't already voted or who didn't have a plan to vote. Biden gave a three-part answer and it was the second part that was selectively edited and posted on the Facebook page. Biden was saying that they had worked hard to prepare to prevent voter fraud.
Biden, Oct. 24: But one of the things that I think is most important is those who haven't voted yet, first of all go to IWILLVOTE.com to make a plan exactly how you're going to vote, where you're going to vote, when you're going to vote. Because it can get complicated, because the Republicans are doing everything they can to make it harder for people to vote -- particularly people of color -- to vote. So go to IWILLVOTE.com.Secondly, we're in a situation where we have put together, and you guys did it for our administration -- President Obama's administration before this -- we have put together I think the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics. What the president is trying to do is discourage people from voting by implying that their vote won't be counted, it can't be counted, we're going to challenge it and all these things. If enough people vote, it's going to overwhelm the system.
You see what's happening now, you guys know it as well as I do, you see the long, long lines and early voting. You see the millions of people who have already cast a ballot. And so, don't be intimidated. If in fact you have any, any problem go to -- and I don't have the number but it's 833-DEM-VOTE... Call that number. We have over a thousand lawyers, over a thousand of them, they'll answer the phone, if you think there's any challenge to your voting. Go to 833-DEM-VOTE, dial those letters on your phone. That will get you the assistance that we have already put in place.
Fox News published an article titled, "Biden says in video he has created 'voter fraud organization,'" noting "Republicans were quick to point out his misspoken claim."
Biden may have been referring to his campaign's massive "election protection program," which includes former Attorney General Eric Holder and hundreds of other lawyers in preparation for a legal battle in the event of a contested election.
The former vice president's campaign told Fox News that over the past several months they have created the largest election protection program in presidential campaign history, involving integrated legal, communications and political strategies for what they anticipate to be an unprecedented election."
Biden campaign press secretary TJ Ducklo gave Factcheck.org a statement: "The President of the United States has already demonstrated he's willing to lie and manipulate our country's democratic process to help himself politically, which is why we have assembled the most robust and sophisticated team in presidential campaign history to confront voter suppression and fight voter fraud however it may present itself. The American people will decide the outcome of this election on November 3rd through a free and fair election, as they always have."
