Did President Joe Biden resign and was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi detained? No, that's not true: The claims in this video and headline are not based in reality. This content is a mashup of material from various sources with a shocking headline intended to trick people into viewing the video.
Lead Stories has previously noted this pattern of production in a clickbait video network. The audio track from one source is dubbed over a generic political slideshow or background, obscuring the original vlogger's identity. An avatar in the lower right gestures as if they are the narrator while a rhinoceros, or other animal avatar, gallops in the opposite corner. In this example, the video was posted to Facebook by a "gaming video creator" -- the page Gilbertoss, on October 26, 2021. It was captioned:
BOMBSHELL! BIDEN STEPS DOWN! PELOSI HAS BEEN DETAINED
This is how the post appeared on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Image source Facebook screenshot taken on Thu Oct 28 19:00:51 2021 UTC)
The audio track of this video seems to be copied from the livestream of an unnamed vlogger. Occasional pauses seem to indicate the host was originally waiting for another comment to be submitted in real time by their audience. Most of the replies are quick yes or no answers:
- Is Alec the shot heard round the world? -No.
- Will big Pharma crash and burn this year? -No.
- Is JFK 104 Years old? -No.
- Am I the Phil in drop 101? -Yes.
That last question was likely a reference to QAnon. The questions include several conspiracy tropes, and the vlogger suggests that major players have been arrested and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in trouble. At the 2:22 mark he reads and replies to the question this way:
- Has Pelosi been arrested? -No. There is a difference guys between the words arrested and detained.
A few questions later he says former FBI Director James Comey was arrested and that former President Barack Obama has been detained after earlier (at 1:47 mark) he had said that Obama had not been arrested.
At the 5:25 mark he is asked:
- Will Biden step down? -Yes.
- Is Eric Trump in the pool? -No.
- Is the Pacific Ocean commander General Flynn's brother? -Yes.
- Will Biden be arrested? -No.
- Is the 'real Biden' dead? -Yes
Biden is not dead and has not been replaced by a body double; he delivered remarks to the press on October 28, 2021. Pelosi had not been detained as evidenced by her speaking at a press briefing on October 28, 2021.
Lead Stories has written about similar clickbait videos that are circulating debunked conspiracies, and has published articles on several of the questions posed in this video, including the recent theory that the La Palma volcano and earthquakes are manmade, and the old QAnon conspiracy that many notable people have been secretly arrested and executed.
