Reuters scorn checking the facts of a video of Biden following an ice cream truck

Following a plainly manipulated video of President Biden responding to the sounds of an ice cream truck in what many see to be an obvious meme, Reuters came under fire for its fact-checking.

The news service "debunked" a viral video that appeared to show Biden getting sidetracked and enticed away from the address First Lady Jill Biden was giving at a middle school in Washington, DC, by an ice cream truck jingle.

The video "has been digitally manipulated to include music typically played by an ice cream truck," according to Reuters Fact Check.

C-SPAN published the original, unedited version of the video on September 10, 2021. Without the recognizable melody, it briefly shows the president leaving his position close to the first lady on stage.

Many social media users enjoyed the parody video because Biden is well known for enjoying the chilled dairy dessert. The altered video was initially published on the same day as the original, but it wasn't until this week that it gained widespread popularity after being reposted by another Twitter user.

When your MKUltra trigger is ice cream truck 🎶 pic.twitter.com/5To9ZhRS1e

— . (@grumpfuk) July 28, 2022

Many social users were incredulous that Reuters published a serious fact check of the mock video.

“oh for Pete’s sake,” conservative editor Jeryl Bier tweeted in response.

“Are we at a place where humor/parody escape us?” another person tweeted. “Sheesh.”

“Thanks, Reuters. I never would have realized that this joke meme wasn’t real without your guidance,” journalist Mike LaChance wrote.

Some found that Reuters’ fact-check made the meme even more comical.

“One of the main news organizations in the world has fact checked a meme. lol,” a fourth person tweeted.

One of the main news organizations in the world has fact checked a meme. lol https://t.co/8rucv678b9

— Whatevs (@j035ich5pach) August 1, 2022