On “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host Jimmy Kimmel deceptively cut and reviewed footage of Vice President Mike Pence delivering boxes of protective medical equipment to a health care center. Kimmel cut the video to show Pence “caught on a hot mic” asking to deliver empty boxes for the cameras.
“Here [Pence] is, with no mask on, wheeling boxes of PPE into a health care center and doing his best to lift them. What a hero,” Kimmel said sarcastically.
In the video you can hear a volunteer telling Pence the the rest of the boxes in the van are empty.
“Well can I carry the empty ones? Just for the camera?” Pence asks, according to Kimmel’s transcription. Kimmel cuts the footage there.
Mike Pence caught on hot mic delivering empty boxes of PPE for a PR stunt. pic.twitter.com/IduvGhiPwj
— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) May 8, 2020
Upon further examination of the full video provided by C-SPAN, there are two errors in Kimmel’s deceptive video.
In Kimmel’s transcription of the video, Pence allegedly asks if he can carry the empty boxes. However, without a transcription it sounds as if Pence asks, “am I carrying the empty ones, just for the camera?”
Although Kimmel conveniently cut the footage, in the continued video people start laughing at Pence’s question and the Vice President immediately turns around and closes the door to the van with the empty boxes. He never carries empty boxes for the cameras and everyone around him took his question as a joke. Except for the so-called late night comedian.
Watch:
Mainstream media journalists and Democrats were pushing Kimmel’s deceptively edited video footage on social media claiming Pence was only delivering medical equipment as a “PR stunt.”
Progressive pollster Matt McDermott, who first tweeted out Kimmel’s video on Friday to the tune of 130,000 retweets, doubled down when others pointed out the deceptively edited clip. McDermott took screenshots of the deceptive Pence quotes and shared those to his 82,000 followers as well.
Additional context to @jimmykimmel segment. With 75,000 Americans dead, Pence is joking about about empty boxes of PPE during a publicity stunt, after the White House press secretary said they had no time for “publicity stunts” in the middle of a crisis. https://t.co/hFeSp83lJs
— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) May 8, 2020
Trump’s White House, summarized. pic.twitter.com/e4gBg1o81H
— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) May 8, 2020
“What can we say? Fake photo op?” tweeted NBC anchor Andrea Mitchell.
What can we say? Fake photo op? https://t.co/cd4IJR4AU6
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) May 8, 2020
“You would be hard pressed to find a better metaphor for the comically malicious incompetence of this failed government,” tweeted New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell.
You would be hardpressed to find a better metaphor for the comically malicious incompetence of this failed government. https://t.co/xiUedLy4wB
— Bill Pascrell, Jr. (@BillPascrell) May 8, 2020
“This is a metaphor for so much of their botched response,” tweeted Andrew Bates, the director of rapid response for presumptive 2020 Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
https://twitter.com/AndrewBatesNC/status/1258766798431956994
Former Kamala Harris campaign spokesman Lily Adams called Pence a “bigoted waste of space.”
https://twitter.com/adamslily/status/1258760654233706497
Vox writer Aaron Rupar tweeted the video was “astounding” for over 4,000 retweets, before admitting in a follow-up tweet that “the clip indicates that Pence was in on the joke.” He did not delete his original tweet.
In fairness to Pence, the non-Kimmelized version of the clip indicates that Pence was in on the joke. Still a bit on the nose given PPE shortages. https://t.co/9592mbJEGK
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 8, 2020
Julio Rosas at Townhall captured screenshots of prominent journalists who retweeted the deceptive video as well. The group includes: Vox writer Matthew Yglesias, Tommy Vietor, co-host of Pod Save America, Jamelle Bouie a New York Times opinion columnist and CBS News analyst, and NeverTrump Lincoln Project advisor Tom Nichols.
And that was just quote tweets, here are some of the people who gave it a straight up retweet: pic.twitter.com/D0j1NQBBxo
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) May 8, 2020
After Kimmel was called out for his deceptive video, he deleted his tweet calling Pence a “big box of nothing.”
The media’s response to New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo working to serve during coronavirus was vastly different than their treatment of Pence. The media botched reports on Pence calling his servant leadership a “PR stunt,” meanwhile they heralded Cuomo as a hero.
When Cuomo shut down the New York City subway system for a deep clean — the first one in 115 years — the media parroted Cuomo’s talking points, declaring it a “monumental undertaking.” New York has the largest infection rate in the United States. With its unprecedented infection rate, it would be a monumental mistake not to clean the largest public transportation system in the city.
The media work tirelessly to portray the Trump administration and its allies as the enemy, meanwhile cheering on Democratic governors, like Cuomo, whose states have become the epicenter of the virus.
After calling out the comedian for his deceptive editing, Kimmel issued a half-hearted apology while simultaneously bashing the Trump administration.
“It would appear that [Mike Pence] 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,” Kimmel said.
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
