CNN reports:
CNN’s Don Lemon called out the Trump campaign after it put out a deceptive smear on 2020 Democratic challenger Joe Biden, using a short clip from his campaign speech to imply he was spaced out.
But in fact, Biden was quoting Pope Francis, who was, ironically, admonishing politicians to think deeply about how they can pursue a more noble path than “media spin.” Lemon noted that Biden is a devout Catholic and then played a clip of Biden speaking to supporters in Georgia on Tuesday.
During his speech, Biden went on to quote from one of the Pope’s latest encyclical, which in a not-so-veiled reference to Trump, warned churchgoers against a “phony populism” spreading around the world.
Kind of amazing: the Trump campaign is attacking Biden by deceptively snipping a video of Biden quoting Pope Francis…specifically, quoting questions the Pope said politicians should ask themselves to make politics less cynical and more public-serving. pic.twitter.com/H2wsJiTaI2
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 27, 2020
The Trump campaign’s “war room” account is serially, remarkably dishonest, not even in the same ballpark as the spin and stretching you usually get from campaign teams. It was up to its usual tricks today: https://t.co/Jf06HsVlCr
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 28, 2020
Deceptive edit – Biden was quoting Pope Francis’ encyclical and his warning against phony populism sowing division & cynicism. Ironically, the clip is made to appear as if Biden is not all there mentally… a recurring attack from the Trump campaign. https://t.co/tTDTnTLwpT
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) October 27, 2020
Trump campaign tweeted a deceptive Biden video. Biden was quoting Pope Francis, not expressing confusion about his campaign. Our fact-check: https://t.co/Z3ntBNJYQQ pic.twitter.com/n7cHSAyO6p
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) October 27, 2020
This, even by Trump standards, is amazingly dishonest. I’m sure Catholic Trump supporters will object, as Biden was quoting the Pope in good faith, and the Trump campaign just clips the quotation to smear Biden. One might say the Trump campaign has shown disrespect for the pope. https://t.co/bC6RKnX0GB
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) October 27, 2020