Claim: A viral video shows US President Joe Biden celebrating the successful passing of the vote of no-confidence against Pakistan’s former prime minister, Imran Khan.
Fact: The video, in fact, shows Biden and Ketanji Brown Jackson celebrating the latter being confirmed to the US Supreme Court. Jackson is the first Black woman to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court in its more than 200-year history.
On 11 April 2022, Facebook user ‘Ghani ur Rahman Sabawun’ shared a video showing Biden and Ketanji Brown Jackson watching a TV screen with a Geo News bulletin on it, inside what appears to be the White House. The anchor, who does not appear on the screen, can be heard announcing the success of the no-confidence motion against Khan, and the two Americans apparently celebrate the development.
The anchor announces the news in Urdu, which, when translated into English, is as follows:
“The no-confidence motion has been successful [and] Imran Khan is no longer the prime minister. The no-confidence motion has been passed in the National Assembly with 174 votes. This is the first time in the country’s history that a prime minister has been removed through a no-confidence motion. The Parliament has relieved Imran Khan of his prime ministership. Ayaz Sadiq read out the resolution against the prime minister.”
The caption accompanying the video on Facebook was as follows:
“تحریک عدم اعتماد کامیاب ہونے پر امریکی صدر جوبائیڈن کی خوشی۔ US president Joe Biden Celebrating success of no confidence motion in Pakistan. عمران خان وزیر اعظم ہے عہدے سے ہٹنے پر جوبائیڈن اپنے دفتر میں خوشی منارہا ہے۔”.
For context, shortly before Khan was ousted, he accused the Assistant Secretary at the US Department of State’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Donald Lu, of involvement in a “conspiracy” to topple the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. Then-ministers Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Shireen Mazari have echoed the same allegations.
Fact or fiction?
Soch Fact Check checked the US government’s official social media accounts and found a video of Biden and Jackson on the Instagram account of the President of the United States (POTUS).
In the video, which is captioned, “Historic moment for our courts and for our country. Congratulations, Judge Jackson,” Biden and Jackson can be seen watching the TV as the results of the US Senate’s vote for Jackson’s nomination are announced.
View this post on Instagram
Vice President Kamala Harris announces the results, stating, “On this vote, the ayes are 53 and the nays are 47. And this nomination is confirmed.” Standing with Jackson, Biden says, “All right. Okay! Wow… wow. Congratulations!”, to which Jackson replies, “Thank you, sir.” Biden then adds, “It’s a big day.”
When comparing screenshots from the video in question and the one posted to the POTUS account, it becomes clear, particularly when Biden hugs Jackson, that the clip of the Geo News bulletin was superimposed.
Several photos of Biden and Jackson from the day of her confirmation to the US Supreme Court are available at Getty Images as well.
There are also other versions of the video, with altered dialogue in the background. One of these features Jackson allegedly saying, “We did it. We did it, Joe.” However, the video posted on the POTUS’ official Instagram and Twitter accounts only shows her saying, “Thank you, sir,” and she does not say, “We did it. We did it, Joe.”
Virality
The Facebook video by ‘Ghani ur Rahman Sabawun’ gained more than 700 views. The clip was also posted elsewhere with different announcements — although related to the same development — playing in the background.
The video appears on Facebook here and here, on Instagram here, and on Twitter here and here.
Many people also believed similar but satirical posts — such as this and this — and shared them as sincere news, such as this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this.
Conclusion: The viral video claiming to show Biden and Jackson hugging and celebrating Khan’s removal from office through a no-confidence vote is fake. The clip is, in fact, of Biden and Jackson celebrating the latter’s confirmation to the US Supreme Court.
[…] Fact Check has previously debunked claims that a viral video showed US President Joe Biden celebrating the successful passing of the vote of no-confidence against Khan, that Khan’s message to the […]