Disabled Jewish activist Ady Barkan slammed Republican House leader Steve Scalise, accusing the GOP lawmaker of 'doctoring his words' in a video posted on Twitter.
The lawyer, who has lost the power of speech to the degenerative disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), tweeted: "These are not my words."
"I have lost my ability to speak, but not my agency or my thoughts," Barkan wrote, adding, "You and your team have doctored my words for your own political gain. Please remove this video immediately. You owe the entire disability community an apology. "
— Ady Barkan (@AdyBarkan) August 30, 2020
In his interview with Biden, Barkan, who speaks through a computer-generated voice synthesizer, asks if "we agree that we can redirect some of the funding” for police departments toward public safety and mental health services. Biden responds with a "yes".
But the version posted by Scalise substitutes the phrase "for police" in the same artificial voice.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) August 30, 2020
Another controversial Scalise tweet attacked Democrat calls for direct action protests against individual government officials, commenting: "No police. Mob rule. Total chaos. That’s the result of the Democrat agenda."
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) August 30, 2020
Twitter has reportedly flagged the video as manipulated, after Barkan complained. Scalise has yet to comment on the accusation.
President Donald Trump and other Republicans have accused Democrats of encouraging unrest, amid the wave of Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Democrats have accused Trump of provoking protesters and inciting his supporters to violence.
