Rep. Steve Scalise tweets faked video, spokesman claims it is 'common practice' when called out

House Republican 'leadership' remains a dishonest, corrupt wreck.

Early this morning, House Republican Whip Rep. Steve Scalise tweeted a video purportedly meant to show "mob rule" and "total chaos" was "the result of the Democrat agenda." Aside from the (ahem) rabidity of Scalise's claims, there's one big problem:

The member of House Republican leadership tweeted a clearly doctored video.

The doctored tape was first pointed out by reporter David Weigel, who showed that Scalise's video manipulated an interview with activist Ady Barkan. Barkan speaks with the assistance of a computer-generated voice; Scalise's version flagrantly adds words, using the same generated voice, to Barkan's question.

There's a clip here of @AdyBarkan, who has ALS and speaks via voice assistance, asking Biden about "re-directing" public safety funding. The clip alters the quote. It splices "for police" into it, using Barkan's artificial voice. https://t.co/WKkbRzlrXF https://t.co/mUysm9YDeQ pic.twitter.com/uofqi9428E

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) August 30, 2020

The fake audio was soon afterwards called out both by those responsible for the original video and by Barkan himself. “You owe the entire disability community an apology,” tweeted Barkan.

Despite receiving a "Manipulated media" tag from Twitter for the fraud, Scalise's team is standing by their manipulation, claiming they "condensed" Barkan's question "to the essence of what he was asking, as is common practice."

Obviously, generating fake audio to alter what a speaker factually said is not a "common practice," in this country. It may be in some others.

As of now, Scalise's video remains up; it indeed appears that the House Republican intends to promote doctored videos as campaign-trail strategy. This is unsurprising, as Rep. Steve Scalise has long been both dishonest and corrupt.