A deepfake video of United States President Joe Biden is being shared falsely claiming that he has invoked the Selective Service Act, which will draft 20-year-olds through a lottery to the military after the recent drone attack on a US military outpost in Jordan.
BOOM found that the viral video is an AI-generated deepfake that was viral last year with false claims linking it to US tensions with Russia and China, and its audio has now being edited to falsely link it to recent tensions between the US and Iran in the Middle East
Three US soldiers were killed in a drone attack on a US military outpost in Jordan on January 29, 2024. AP News reported on February 1, 2024, that the United States is attributing the drone attack to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, with President Biden weighing his options to respond to the strike. Iran has however denied it was behind the Jordan strike.
The 43 seconds video was posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) by the handle Ape '@Apex644864791' with the caption, "Amber Alert: To combat Russia and Iran, the recommended way forward will be to invoke the Selective Service Act" "The first to be called will be men and women who's 20th birthday falls during calendar year 2023" Americans are not safe under Joe Biden 187 IQ Tower 22 #FJBiden A preview of things to come"
In the viral video Biden can be heard saying, "The illegal Russian offensive has been swift, callous and brutal. It's barbaric. Putin's illegal occupation of Kyiv, and ground operation in Iran, has created a two-front national security crisis that requires more troops than the volunteer military can supply."
He can be heard further saying, "I have received guidance from General Milly, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, that the recommended way forward will be to invoke the Selective Service Act, as is my authority as president. The first to be called in a sequence determined by national lottery will be men and women whose twentieth birthday falls during calendar year 2023. Remember you are not sending your sons and daughters to war, you're sending them to freedom. God bless our troops and god bless Ukraine."
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The same false claim is also being shared on Facebook.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video of US President Joe Biden calling for military conscription following the recent drone attack in Jordan, is an AI-generated deepfake.
Taking cues from the viral video, like the audio voice changes, especially when Biden says, "and ground operation in Iran", are telltale signs that the audio is doctored.
Additionally, we found that the same video was posted last year in February 2023 by The Post Millennial on X, which is a conservative Canadian online news magazine. The caption had then clearly stated that it was created using AI.
The caption of the post read, "AI imagines what would happen if Biden declares and activates the Selective Service Act and begins drafting 20 years old to war"
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At the 44 seconds timestamp in the video, Jack Posobiec, an influential rightwing conspiracy theorist, appears and states that the video is AI-generated. This part has been edited out of the viral video.
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Additionally, in this deepfake video, there is no mention of Iran, whereas the viral video has an audio jump cut inserting Iran in it. In the deepfake video that was posted in February 2023, it was centered around Russia and China. This can be seen at the 9 seconds timestamp.
The original video from which visuals have been taken from, and the voice has been doctored over, is from a December 2021 speech of Biden on lowering insulin costs in the US.
Snopes had previously fact-checked the same deepfake video back in February 2023, when it was being shared with false claims and linking it to US tensions with Russia and China, to falsely claim that Biden had announced military conscription.
The same deepfake video was also posted on X by Jack Posobiec on February 27, 2023 with the vague caption not mentioning it was AI-generated, which X had then put a community note under the post to clarify that it was a deepfake.
BOOM has previously fact-checked other posts with AI-generated photos showing Biden in a military outfit to make the false claims linking it the recent drone attack in Jordan on the US military outpost.
