Edited video of BBC news clip shared as President Biden's 'confession' that Buhari died 6 years ago

Context

A video of a BBC news clip followed by a speech by President Joe Biden is going viral on social media. In the video, a BBC journalist can be seen reporting on the U.K.'s decision to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, which then follows by President Biden's comment that "Nigeria is the only country where a dead man is ruling as a president for six years, without them known." The viral clip also has text overlaid on it that says, “Open confession Joe Biden said Buhari was dead six years ago.” 

An X post carrying the viral video was captioned, “...but we said it that Buhari died years back, but the American leadership were busy confusing the gullible in Nigeria. here the truth from Joe Biden (sic).” The post had over 36,000 views and over 1,000 reposts at the time of writing. Another X post with the same video was captioned, “BREAKING NEWS:13/8/23 PRESIDENT HAVE MADE IT VERY CLEAR THAT ZOO FORMER PRESIDENT BUHARI RULED AS A DEAD MAN FOR 6 YRS WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF NIGERIANS, WATCH ME: FREE MNK, CONDUCT A REFERENDUM, END. MNK/IPOB WAS RIGHT. BUHARI DIED ON 17TH FEB 2017, BURIED IN S. ARABIA.” 

Screengrab of the claim. (Source: X/@RealCNsuccess, Altered by Logically Facts)

However, this viral video has been digitally edited.

In fact

The BBC video in the viral clip is from a June 2022 BBC News broadcast. We found the exact clip uploaded on June 15, 2022, by TV Live, a website that archives television shows. The title read, "BBC News at 6: New Studio - 14 June 2022.” 

At 1:51 in the TV Live video, BBC News presenter Sophie Raworth reports the U.K.'s decision to transfer asylum seekers to Rwanda. It’s worth noting that the news clip does not contain any footage of Joe Biden confessing to the murder of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari further in the footage. See below:

A reverse image search of keyframes from the video led us to a similar image published by Politico in October 2022, crediting the image to Associated Press (AP). We also found the image in the AP’s photo gallery. The image was taken while President Joe Biden spoke about abortion access during an event in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on July 8, 2022. The background behind Biden and his attire is identical in the AP shot and the viral video. This confirms that the now-viral video is edited. It has indications of artificial intelligence (AI) editing; the biggest evidence is that lip movement is very different.

A comparison of the image published by Politico and a screengrab from the viral video
(Source: Politico, X/RealCNsuccess)

Logically Facts has previously written about recognizing AI-generated imagery using visual cues and other techniques. Read it here.

Moreover, Joe Biden and Muhammadu Buhari maintained diplomatic relations between the United States and Nigeria. They have communicated on various matters, including trade, security, and international cooperation. In December 2022, Biden praised former President Buhari for his efforts to deepen democracy in Africa. In 2018, there were rumors in Nigeria that Buhari had died and his body double was making all the public appearances. However, Buhari denied all the rumors that he had died and been replaced by a lookalike.

There is no confirmed report of Buhari's passing. We also looked into his social media accounts. The most recent post from his account was on August 3, 2023, in which he expressed remorse for missing the All Progressives Congress, APC, caucus meeting, and NEC meetings.

The verdict

U.S. President Joe Biden did not state that Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari died six years ago. The video of Biden is an AI-edited video. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.