Old White House CCTV footage misused in false Biden medical emergency claims

Context

Matt Wallace, a user on X (formerly Twitter) who has previously spread misinformation and conspiracy theories, said in a post (archived here) that he has been informed of "a possible plan to install Kamala Harris in office using a Joe Biden medical emergency." 

Along with this claim, Wallace shared CCTV footage purportedly showing a black object resembling a body bag being rolled out of the White House. The post has garnered almost three million views on the platform.

However, the video in question dates back to 2022.

In fact

A reverse image search of video stills led us to a TikTok video (archived here) published on June 26, 2022. 

By conducting another reverse image search and comparing timestamp formats, we determined that the CCTV footage originated from EarthTV's livestream of the White House. However, the original author of the video circulating online is unknown. 

This video was also repurposed in 2023 (example archived here). As the 2024 U.S. presidential election approaches on November 5, the same footage resurfaced. However, President Joe Biden is alive. On October 28, he publicly participated in early voting for the election. Additionally, no statements from the White House suggest that Biden is in poor health or deceased.

Logically Facts contacted the White House to clarify what can be seen in the video but has not received a response. Because of the low quality of the footage, it is difficult to determine who or what exactly was being rolled out of the Executive Mansion in 2022, but it is clear that it was not Biden.

The verdict

The video dates back to 2022 and has been repeatedly misused to promote false claims that Biden has died or experienced a medical emergency. Although the identity of the black objects in the footage remains unclear, Biden's recent public appearances confirm that he is alive. 

Follow Logically Facts' coverage and fact-checking of the U.S. Election 2024 here.