Although it seems to be common practice to alter videos and photos with the most prominent politicans on social media, just for fun, with most paying little, if any, attention to that, it seems not to be the case with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
"We have said all along, poor Facebook, they were unwittingly exploited by the Russians. I think wittingly, because right now they are putting up something that they know is false. I think it's wrong", Pelosi said, kicking off her comments, proceeding: "I can take it… But [Facebook is] lying to the public".
The top Democrat then expressed a view that they have thereby proven by not removing something they “know is false” that they “were willing enablers of the Russian interference in our election”.
The comments came as Pelosi was speaking to KQED News less than two hours after Special Counsel Robert Mueller made his first public comments on his two-year investigation into accusations against Donald Trump and his 2016 election campaign.
Ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also weighed in on the criticism over the Pelosi video, calling it “sexist trash”.
Both Democrats’ backlash was chewed over on Twitter, with one cheekily remarking that Clinton’s fiery remark looks like an upbeat graduation speech:
“She is such a fascist,” another netizen remarked, while many seemed to be more focused on Facebook and its approach to the content:
Referring to Pelosi, one user suggested that she is a “tyrant” due to her earlier demands that Facebook take down the video; whereas a different one noted that she is funny, because otherwise, pro-Democrat media would also have to do something about “funny Trump videos” in return:
Many appeared to give the whole thing a decent laugh:
Some even attempted to come up with Pelosi-inspired memes and similar clips to support the “no less funny drunk video”, with Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez being one of the central characters:
Last week, a heavily altered video of Pelosi with a manipulated voice pitch and speed to make her look and sound inebriated made rounds on social media, with critics using the clip to attack the congresswoman’s mental stability.
Although the social media giant admitted that the clip could have been deliberately altered, it announced a decision to keep the acoustically modified video on the platform in a bid to find and sustain “the right balance between encouraging free expression and promoting a safe and authentic community”.