Reuters was mocked after the news service fact-checked a clearly edited video of President Biden following the sounds of an ice cream truck in what many see as an obvious meme.
The wire service “debunked” a viral video of Biden seemingly getting distracted and lured away by an ice cream truck jingle while first lady Jill Biden was giving a speech at a middle school in Washington, DC.
Reuters Fact Check said the video “has been digitally edited to include music usually played by an ice cream truck.”
The original, unedited video was posted on Sept. 10, 2021, by C-SPAN. It shows the president walking away from his spot on stage next to the first lady momentarily without the familiar jingle.
Biden is widely known as a lover of the cold dairy treat and many social media users found the spoof video amusing. The edited video was initially posted the same day as the authentic version, but only went viral this week when it was reposted by another Twitter user.
Many social users were incredulous that Reuters published a serious fact check of the mock video.
“oh for Pete’s sake,” conservative editor Jeryl Bier tweeted in response.
“Are we at a place where humor/parody escape us?” another person tweeted. “Sheesh.”
“Thanks, Reuters. I never would have realized that this joke meme wasn’t real without your guidance,” journalist Mike LaChance wrote.
