MAGA Inc. ad cuts off Biden’s criticism of Trump's Russia, NATO remarks, making him appear lost

A political ad mocking President Joe Biden uses a partial clip from a press conference to create the impression that Biden froze in silence.

Biden did pause — right before ripping into his rival, former President Donald Trump. The ad by MAGA Inc., which supports Trump, left that part out.

The March 7 ad aired before Biden’s State of the Union address and began by showing Biden saying, "Do whatever the hell they want." 

It then shows Biden pausing, with a few blinks and mumbles, for about eight seconds. "I guess I should clear my mind here a little bit," he says after the silence. 

The ad’s narrator cuts in, over images of Biden stumbling up stairs to a stage: "We can all see Joe Biden’s weakness. If Biden wins, can he even survive till 2029? The real question is, can we?" 

The ad ends with a split screen video of Biden stumbling up Air Force One’s stairs and Vice President Kamala Harris laughing. (Harris was speaking at a 2023 Juneteenth event, not at the president’s stumble, which came in March 2021.)

The ad sends a message: Biden, 81, is old. He is stumbling, verbally and physically, and can’t find his words to deliver a coherent sentence. 

Polls show widespread concern among voters about Biden’s age. A February New York Times/Siena poll showed that 73% of all registered voters said Biden was too old to be effective while 42% said the same for Trump

But the ad misleads by stripping these remarks of context, leaving voters with a different impression.

Biden spoke Feb. 16 in the White House’s Roosevelt Room about the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei A. Navalny. 

Biden praised Navalny as a "powerful voice of the truth" and said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "responsible for his death."

Biden also discussed Trump’s comments at a rally days earlier, when Trump said he told an unnamed North Atlantic Treaty Organization country leader that Russia could "do whatever the hell they want" to an ally that didn’t pay for collective defense.

Biden took a long pause before criticizing Trump at length. Here’s what he said in the unedited video (minute 4):

"All of us should reject the dangerous statements made by the previous president that invited Russia to invade our NATO allies if they weren’t paying up. He said if an ally did not pay their dues, he’d encourage Russia to, quote, ‘do whatever the hell they want.’"

He paused.

"I guess I should clear my mind here a little bit and not say what I’m really thinking. But let me be clear: This is an outrageous thing for a president to say. I can’t fathom. I can’t fathom. From (Harry) Truman on, they’re rolling over in their graves hearing this.

"As long as I’m president, America stands by our sacred commitment to our NATO allies as they have stood by their commitments to us repeatedly. 

Featured Fact-check

Mitt Romney

stated on October 21, 2007 in a Republican debate in Orlando, Fla.

President Clinton "reduced the scale of our military dramatically."

"Putin and the whole world should know: If any adversary were to attack us, our NATO allies would back us. And if Putin were to attack a NATO ally, the United States will defend every inch of NATO territory. Now is the time for even greater unity among our NATO allies to stand up to the threat that Putin’s Russia poses."

NBC described the pause as a "dramatic effect, expressing exasperation with Trump." It’s up to listeners to decide whether they viewed that as a rhetorical tool. But the full comments show Biden was delivering a clear message about his view on Trump, NATO and Russia.

We have seen this tactic before. In 2020, for example, Trump’s campaign presented a clip of Biden saying "Why am I doing this? Why? What is my real aim?" without disclosing that Biden was quoting the pope.

The ad from MAGA Inc. portrayed Biden as saying "do whatever the hell they want," pausing, and saying he needed to "clear my mind here a little bit."

The ad used a partial moment from a press conference to show Biden as addled. But there are issues with this example.

Biden was quoting Trump saying Russia can "do whatever the hell they want" with regard to invading NATO countries that don’t pay for collective defense. Biden’s pause could be deemed artful or awkward, but he said he needed to clear his mind and "not say what I’m really thinking." He launched into a pointed critique, calling Trump’s rhetoric "an outrageous thing for a president to say," and that past presidents were "rolling over in their graves hearing" Trump.

None of that appears in the deceptively edited ad.

The statement contains an element of truth about the pause and some of his words but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate the ad Mostly False.

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