Did President Joe Biden award Rep. Nancy Pelosi a medal for being the "Greatest Trader In Congress"? No, that's not true: This video clip has been edited to display a fake NBC News chyron and to add a fake audio track. This video shows in reality the May 3, 2024, Presidential Medal of Freedom awards. Pelosi was among 19 recipients and was introduced as the "greatest speaker of the House in American history" before receiving her medal from Biden.
The altered video appeared in a post (archived here) on Threads by @politiciantradetracker on May 13, 2024. The post was captioned:
Congrats to Nancy Pelosi 🍾
The Greatest Trader in Congress
This is how the post appeared on Threads at the time of writing
(Source: Threads screenshot taken on Thu May 16 19:56:35 2024 UTC)
The account that posted this video, @politiciantradetracker, promotes the Autopilot app in their bio:
Exposing Politicians stock trades so you can copy them
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Download Autopilot to get started🫡
In the upper right corner of the edited video is the logo of the investment app Autopilot, which features a "Pelosi Tracker" on its website (promo pictured below). It says:
Invest alongside top politicians.
Introducing the Pelosi Tracker, on Autopilot.
Heralded as the queen of politician stock trading, she specializes in making 'notable, eyebrow raising' trades.
View Politician Portfolios →
(Source: Autopilot screenshot taken on Thu May 16 20:56:57 2024 UTC)
The audio track of this video had been edited. There is a notable difference between the voice that says Pelosi's name and the rest of this phony script. The following from the post was NOT said at the Presidential Medal Of Freedom ceremony:
Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi. After raising five children with Paul while leading the California Democratic Party Nancy Pelosi became not only San Francisco's tireless champion but also a true master of the stock market. As the first woman speaker of the house she strategically aligned her stock portfolio with forthcoming legislation, jokingly saying that she can pick stocks better than she can pick ties for her husband. Her savvy investments in Tesla and Invidia before key bills like the electric vehicle bill and the chips act helped boost her returns to 45% in 2023. Pelosi's dual dominance in politics and finance will forever mark her as the greatest stock trader in the history of Congress.
The video posted on Threads has an altered chyron with the "NBC News Now" logo that reads:
Biden Awards Greatest Trader In Congress
Below is a screenshot of the real NBC video of the ceremony, which was streamed live on YouTube on May 3, 2024. The authentic chyron reads:
Biden Awards Presidential Medal Of Freedom
(Source: YouTube screenshot taken on Thu May 16 20:06:42 2024 UTC)
At 47:40 minutes into the ceremony, Pelosi is introduced. The announcer says:
Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi. After raising five children with her beloved husband Paul, and leading the California Democratic Party, Nancy Pelosi became San Francisco's tireless champion in Congress. As the first woman speaker of the house, she has shepherded some of our nation's most consequential laws by keeping coalitions together and standing with and up to presidents of both parties. Her resolve on January 6th, 2021, helped guide America through one of our darkest days. For her efforts to protect freedom and democracy Nancy Pelosi will be known forever as the greatest speaker of the House in American history.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims associated with Nancy Pelosi can be found here.
