Fact Check: US President Joe Biden did not step on a cat in viral video

Hyderabad: Several X users have shared a video that claims to show US President Biden stepping on a cat while delivering a speech.

The viral video shows Biden stumbling while walking followed by the sound of a startled cat screaming. Biden could be heard saying, “Whoops, stepping on him. But it’s black. Anyway—.”

We can only wonder what a cat must be doing at a place where the President is delivering a speech.

However, let’s check if this video is real.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that there is no cat and the viral video is edited.

We started our investigation by performing a reverse image search and found a media report published on November 6, 2022, in New York Post carrying the viral video titled “Biden says ‘no more drilling’, stumbles on stage in a last-ditch effort to save Kathey Hochul from surging Lee Zeldin.”

In the extended version of the viral video found in the media report we couldn’t hear any cat screaming on stage, apart from Biden stumbling on the stage accidentally.

Taking this as a cue, we performed a keyword search that led us to an extended version of the viral video on the official YouTube channel of the Daily Mail. In the video, Biden was clearly heard saying, “stepping on them...oh ...it’s black… anyways,” and carries on with his speech.

Again, no screaming cat was heard in the original video of Joe Biden’s speech. We can safely conclude that the viral video has been edited.