CNN Fact-Checker Tries to Get to the Bottom of Whether Biden Said 'My Butt's Been Wiped'

Yesterday, we reported on an odd video clip from Joe Biden talking with reporters where we really couldn’t tell what he said, although some suggested it sounded like Biden said, “My butt’s been wiped.”

“Does immigration need to be in reconciliation?A pathway for citizenship?” @POTUS was asked returning to the White House

“There needs to be a pathway to citizenship whether it needs to be in immigration remains to be seen,” he said (he appeared to mean reconciliation) pic.twitter.com/cDiNoG31h3

— Molly Nagle (@MollyNagle3) July 25, 2021

Full interview of @POTUS “my butt has been wiped” comment.
Why, did not a single reporter, ask…excuse me Mr. President?
Can you clarify what happened to your butt?
Journalism is dead…

pic.twitter.com/I2Y7uW5Lph

— All Politics is Local with Jon Fetherston (@LocalPoliticsis) July 25, 2021

It prompted a lot of comment from people across the political spectrum, not just those on the right.

Mr President, that’s TMI. We don’t need to know that your butt has been waxed. Can you focus on something useful like Medicare for All instead? Thanks. https://t.co/v3f1sTCrQf

— Lefty-Desiree McLefty Face, Milkshake Whisperer (@TinaDesireeBerg) July 27, 2021

But here’s what CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale said — claiming it was going viral in “MAGA circles” and showing screenshots of some of the headlines (including ours — thanks, CNN).

Since this is going viral in MAGA circles: no, Biden didn’t talk about his “butt.”

A reporter shouted over the ‘copter noise, of immigration reform, “Must it be in reconciliation?” Biden shouted, “What must be what?” He smiled, she repeated, he answered. https://t.co/U9j7t87SkX pic.twitter.com/IU5txmyyp8

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 27, 2021

How does he know that? He cites to a similar voice recording on a site that doesn’t confirm what is said any more than the other videos do.

It could be, although it doesn’t sound like it and Biden doesn’t have the inflection of a question at the end of the comment, as our friends over at Twitchy observed. If what he said was completely normal, why did they laugh? And as I noted in my previous story, even the coherent part of his answer made no sense. “There needs to be a pathway to citizenship whether it needs to be in immigration remains to be seen,” he said. He likely meant “reconciliation” [the reconciliation bill] not “immigration.” But as I said, he was otherwise saying things that weren’t clear.

So, pretty much what Dale is saying is he thinks that’s what Biden is saying. Not sure that’s a “fact-check.”

Snopes was actually straighter about it, concluding that no one could really tell what it said from the video. They didn’t spin it to make Joe Biden sound better. They noted the caption over one of the original tweets put out “Laurel or Yanny,” indicating that what one hears tends to be a matter of perception.

Laurel or Yanny? pic.twitter.com/JwChf7yRNC

— Kate Hyde (@KateHydeNY) July 25, 2021

Pro-tip for CNN? If you’re having to explain why Biden didn’t say “My butt’s been wiped,” you know that you’re in trouble.

That’s the problem, as we noted in our previous story. If Biden needs an interpreter, it’s an issue. While it seems like an unlikely thing for anyone to say, unfortunately, it is a common thing for Biden to make uncommon, weird, and incoherent comments. But CNN has been quiet on those many many comments. Perhaps they’d like to try to explain away all those things that we’ve seen and heard? And why do they feel this need to clean up after Biden? Had it been President Donald Trump, we wouldn’t be hearing this, hearing about more “context” or whatever the spin is. We’d be hearing 24/7 from CNN how delirious he was and how we needed to be looking into the 25th Amendment.