Was President Joe Biden encouraging "violence and chaos" in a video published on Facebook? No, that's not true: The original video shows that when Biden spoke about chaos and violence he was quoting a Trump adviser. His remarks were based on a quote from Kellyanne Conway, not his own beliefs.
The claim appeared in a video on Facebook on December 2, 2023, under the title "𝑩𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏 THREATENS '𝑽𝑰𝑶𝑳𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑶𝑺' 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍 𝑴𝑨𝑮𝑨 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒕𝒔!" The video began with South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem speaking about why "liberals and Joe Biden" want to take away guns. At eight seconds into the video, Biden is shown saying:
The more chaos, violence, the better it is.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thu Dec 7 19:21:58 2023 UTC)
The 1:18-minute-long video on Facebook is a sales pitch for a Trump-themed flag.
Biden made the remarks quoting Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway in Pittsburgh on August 31, 2020, during that year's presidential campaign, according to footage from the event posted on CNBC Television's YouTube channel. He begins at the 7:32 mark of the CNBC video saying:
One of his closest political advisers in the White House doesn't even bother to speak in code, she just comes out and she says it. Quote, the more chaos, violence the better it is.
Here's the video of Biden speaking:
When Biden says a "Trump adviser," he is referring to a comment Conway made on "Fox & Friends" on August 27, 2020. This screenshot from Conway on Fox News (archived here) shows her appearance:
(Source: Fox News screenshot taken on Thu Dec 7 20:41:28 2023 UTC)
The New York Times (archived here) reported what Conway said:
'The more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who's best on public safety and law and order,' Ms. Conway said on 'Fox & Friends.'
