A video from 2014 of two foreigners reciting vedic chants as part of an event by a Hindu-American organisation is being shared with a false claim it shows the White House holding a recital of Hindu shlokas for Joe Biden, the US President-elect, on his first day of office.
The video is being shared with a caption that claims the two foreigners recited vedic chants at the White House to mark US President-elect Biden's first day at work. The caption reads, "White House first day before entering the New American President, How they perform Indian Slocas invocking Almighty of the Universe for the good happening of the Countrymen."
View an archive here
The video is also being shared with a claim that it shows vedic chants recital at the US Senate.
View an archive here
The false claim is also being shared on Twitter
View an archive here
FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the video is old and was shot during an event to celebrate the 145th birth anniversary celebration for Mahatma Gandhi, organised by a social service organisation - Hindu American Seva Communities.
We analysed the video and found that at the counter of 19 seconds, the projector on the stage had the words - Dharmic Dialogue : Seva and Social Justice with the logo of The White House on top and an orange logo. On a close look of the orange logo, we found that it has the Hindu god Ganesh with the words, Hindu American Seva Communities written on it.
We ran a search for the same keywords and found a website for the same organisation - Hindu American Seva Org and under the events tab of the site found a listing for White House - Seva Conference 2014 to be held on October 2, 2014. The conference detailed that it was to be held in the first week of October and was titled -- Dharmic Dialogue: Seva and Social Justice -- the same name as seen in the viral video. We further found a press statement released by the organisation after the event which said, "The Erhard Family of Colorado began the conference with an invocation of prayers appreciated by Mahatma Gandhi." The organistions hold the annual event every year at the White House, as part of an outreach program.
We then found a longer version of the same video on the organisation's YouTube channel uploaded on October 16, 2014 with the description - Vedic Chanting White House and text in the video identified the two men as Jeffrey Erhard and Robbie Erhard reciting 'Ganapati Prathana' and 'Rudra Namakam'.
We also found the same video posted by a Giridhar Talla, a radio jockey who has a verified Facebook page on October 15, 2014, with the caption saying, "...Celebrating Mahatma Gandhi's 145th birth anniversary at the White House on October 2nd 2014. This is the Hindu American Seva Communities fourth annual conference." Talla also added a disclaimer that the event was not an official White House endorsed event but a "conference/briefing where Hindu-Americans gather to discuss seva and social justice at the White House thanks to the outreach of the current administration"
Additionally, US President-elect Joe Biden is yet to officially start work at the White House. Biden who won the recently concluded US Elections, defeating Donald Trump, will be able to do so only after the official swearing-in ceremony scheduled to be held on January 20, 2021.
