The White House is asking Americans not to believe their ears after President Joe Biden's latest failure to read his teleprompter.
In response to criticism over Biden reading his cue to "repeat the line" on the teleprompter as though it was part of his speech, a member of the White House press staff said everyone simply heard him wrong.
"No. He said, 'let me repeat that line,'" wrote White House assistant press secretary Emilie Simons in response to a video post of the moment shared on Twitter.
No. He said, "let me repeat that line."
— Emilie Simons (@EmilieSimons46) July 8, 2022
The White House is wrong about what the president said, according to everyone who listened to Biden's remarks. A slowed-down version of Biden's remarks makes clear that Biden did not say "let me" at any time during the moment, and said "repeat the line" rather than "repeat that line."
MORE - 50% slow motion/sound pic.twitter.com/IsX2cVYwfi
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 8, 2022
Simons response apparently had the support of her superiors in the White House. Her post was "liked" by many colleagues, including deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, deputy communications director Kate Berner, regional communications director Haris Talwar, and assistant press secretary Alexandra LaManna.
Billionaire scientist Elon Musk also appears to have heard Biden correctly, and joked that whoever controls Biden's teleprompter is the real president.