Biden stumbled in December speech, but altered video removes context and clarity

At the White House in December, President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a joint press conference in which Biden announced the United States would send more military aid to Ukraine to help it fend off Russia’s invasion. 

Footage from that press conference, deceptively edited, is circulating on social media to make Biden appear unintelligible.

"To the Ukrainian people, I say to them all, you might you might they they might be able to make might right and they’re not able to do it. Thus far they have not. They’ve stood alone, you know, and you’ve have but you haven’t stood alone," Biden says in that clip. 

The conservative news site The Daily Wire shared the video in a Dec. 22 Instagram post. That post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

"Inspiring words," said the post’s caption.

Biden has a speech impediment and has been open about his lifelong struggle with stuttering. Biden stumbled with his remarks during his speech with Zelenskyy. But the Instagram clip was edited to remove some words that gave Biden’s remarks context and clarity. 

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“NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte says that ‘if Trump surrenders Ukraine to Putin, he will personally expel the United States from the alliance.’”

Here’s what Biden said: "To the Ukrainian people, I say to them all, you have demonstrated, you have shown your strong stand against aggression in the face of the imperial appetites of autocrats who wrongfully believe you might, you might — they they might be able to make — might — right, and they’re not able to do it. Thus far they’ve not — they’ve stood alone, you know, and you’ve have — but you haven’t stood alone. You have had significant significant help. We’ve never stand alone — you will never stand alone."

Stuttering is a communication disorder in which the flow of speech is broken by repetitions, prolongations or abnormal stoppages of sounds and syllables, according to The Stuttering Foundation, a nonprofit that helps people who stutter. 

We’ve previously checked claims that seized on Biden’s stutter to mislead about what he said, or cast doubt on his mental fitness. In one such case, he stumbled over the words "I’m eager" and some social media users accused him of saying a racial slur. 

The edited video in this Instagram post gives an incomplete and misleading version of Biden’s speech.   

We rate it False.  

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