A viral video of President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama appears to show the two Democratic presidents agreeing that Vice President Kamala Harris is “not as strong” as Biden.
According to The New York Post, Jeremy Freeman, a professional lip reader who has served as a University College London-certified witness, translated a video of Biden and Obama talking together at Ethel Kennedy’s memorial service in Washington, D.C., last week.
In the video, Freeman said Biden appears to tell Obama, “She’s not as strong as me.” In response, Obama reportedly said, “I know … that’s true,” before adding, “We have time.” According to Freeman, Biden then told Obama, “Yeah, we’ll get it in time.”
Freeman also said that Obama told Biden, “It’s important that we have some time together.” The New York Post indicated that Obama’s comment could have been made in reference to the two Democratic presidents campaigning for Harris.
According to The New York Post, while Freeman did not include Harris’ name in the lip-reading translation, it was not clear who else the conversation could have been about. The outlet noted that Freeman described the conversation as “very supportive” and that “no tension” was detected between the two Democratic presidents.
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The New York Post reported that sources within the Democratic Party were divided regarding the translation of the video featuring Biden and Obama at Kennedy’s recent funeral.
“From the outset, there has been widespread concern that Harris was not a strong alternative to Biden, who clearly was a sinking ship. So much so [that] multiple House members floated the idea of an open convention or removing Harris from the ticket along with Biden,” one Democratic source told The New York Post. “Democrats essentially robbed Peter to pay Paul and are now stuck with a less likable sinking ship.”
On the other hand, Andrew Bates, a Biden spokesperson, mocked the interpretation, saying, “A ‘lip reading expert’? Did your usual right-wing soothsayer have their out-of-office up? Only President Biden and President Obama know what they discussed, but this certainly wasn’t it.”
A source close to Obama told The New York Post, “Only President Obama and President Biden know what they discussed yesterday. Any assertion otherwise is ridiculous.” Additionally, two former Biden White House officials who currently support Harris’ campaign expressed doubts regarding the accuracy of the lip-reading translation. One of the officials encouraged The New York Post to get “a new lip reader,” while the other official said it would “not even like [Biden] to say that.”
