Did President Joe Biden "push away" or snub U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when Biden arrived in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on April 11, 2023? No, that's not true: The video in this post has been digitally edited. It was shortened to seem as if Biden did not recognize Sunak and instead mistook a British military member in uniform as the prime minister. In the real, extended video, Biden recognizes Sunak as the U.K. prime minister, addressing him first and in multiple cordial gestures afterward.
The claim appeared in a video post on Instagram on April 12, 2023. The caption reads:
Biden is crushing. The dementia is really starting to set in, the Biden gaffes are likely to go next level.
The text in the post, above a video of Biden exiting Air Force One and greeting people, reads:
Arriving in Belfast, the Biden did not recognize the Prime Minister of Great Britain and pushed the 'boy' away to salute the gray-haired military man.
This is what the post looked like on Instagram at the time of writing:
(Source: Instagram screenshot was taken on Wed Apr 19 16:30:44 2023 UTC)
The 15-second video in this post was edited to cut off the moment Biden shook hands with Sunak. However, the original 59-second video, which appeared in this April 12, 2023, Sky News post, titled, "US president Joe Biden and UK prime minister Rishi Sunak shake hands," not only shows Biden doing that when first stepping off of Air Force One but also speaking with Sunak, patting him on his back and introducing Sunak to his team.
The claim in this post originated from the verified Twitter account of social media user @Spriter99880. His tweet, which is no longer visible, was posted April 12, 2023.
(Source: Twitter screenshot taken on Wed Apr 19 13:05:44 2023 UTC)
"Spriter" is self-described as an "independent activist, who covers, collects, sorts, researches various media contents in the field of information, geopolitics, analysis, war topics and crisis areas."
His Twitter account is listed under entertainment and recreation.
Lead Stories previously debunked a claim that Sunak performed a Hindu ceremony outside his current residence before assuming office as the UK Prime Minister.
