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The Facts
On Thursday night, comedian Jimmy Kimmel aired a clip of Pence’s visit. He first suggested that Pence — “doing his best to lift them” — was pretending to strain as he took boxes off a cart. “Since it was going so well and also because he didn’t realize he had a mic on, Magic Mike decided to keep it going,” Kimmel said. “Listen in closely here.”
Pence is heard being told the remaining boxes are empty, and he responds: “Well, can I carry the empty ones? Just for the camera?”
Kimmel asserted, “Mike Pence pretending to carry a big box of PPEs into a hospital is the perfect metaphor for who he is and what he’s doing: a big box of nothing, delivering another box of nothing.”
Kimmel tweeted out the clip Friday morning, saying: “A big box of nothing, delivering another box of nothing.” It quickly went viral, accumulating millions of views. For instance:
But this was manipulated video, as Washington Post producer Peter Stevenson noted after viewing the original C-SPAN video. (Go to the nine-minute mark.) Pence’s comment about the empty boxes is greeted with laughter. A man helping Pence unload the van jokes: “They’re a lot easier,” electing more laughter from Pence and the others.
A campaign spokesman for Pence tweeted his outrage:
Kimmel at first deleted the tweet without explanation. (We sought comment from Disney — the owner of ABC, which airs Kimmel’s show — but did not get a response.) Then he posted an apology of sorts.
it would appear that @vp was joking about carrying empty boxes for a staged publicity stunt. The full video reveals that he was carrying full boxes for a staged publicity stunt. My apologies. I know how dearly this administration values truth. https://t.co/hI9cO4lxcX
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) May 8, 2020
The Pinocchio Test
Kimmel is a comedian, but he still should be careful about perpetuating a narrative that the media peddles “fake news.” This was certainly a phony tale, and it can undercut accurate and dogged reporting by real reporters.
This is a clear case of manipulated video, according to our guide. It is an example of “deceptive editing-omission.”
He has deleted his tweet and offered apologies. Otherwise he would have been in line for Four Pinocchios.
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The Washington Post Fact Checker is working with the CoronaVirusFacts/DatosCoronaVirus Alliance, a coalition of more than 100 fact-checkers who are fighting misinformation related to the covid-19 pandemic. Learn more about the alliance here.
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