Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's meeting with US President Joe Biden in Washington on December 21 has prompted the spread of a photo that appears to have been edited to falsely show Biden's hand touching Zelenskiy's buttocks.
This photo was shared by several social media users on December 22. This photo depicting United States President (US) Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went viral, as it presents a fake image. Hibrid.info has tackled this hoax in several steps, also based on fact checks by Reuters and Easyway.
Links to the social media accounts that shared this photo:
After this photo went viral, fact-checkers have been scrutinizing its authenticity. During verification, a similar image was found to have been shared online and it was found that Jill Biden uploaded the exact frame on December 21 (local time) with the caption saying: “President Zelenskyy, we hope you return our love and support to Olena and your children, and all the families of Ukraine.” However, it was noted that President Biden’s hand was nowhere near President Zelenskyy’s buttocks. (here)
The image presented through the edited photo was checked by Easyway in several steps: The first step showed that there had been a change in the size of the images. At this point, it was clear that one of the images had been edited.
The image was then zoomed in to the point where we could only see the trio standing in the frame.
In point 1, you will notice that whoever edited this image cut off President Biden's arm and rotated it downwards towards President Zelenskyy's rear.
In point 2, you will notice that the wrinkle on President Zelenskyy's back has been removed during editing. President Biden's arm was here in the original photo.
In point 3, you'll notice in the original image that Jill's hand was on President Biden's thumb. Whoever edited it couldn't remove the thumb, which is still under Jill's hand.
In point 4, you will notice that the crease on President Zelenskyy's back was erased to cover the empty space created by the removal of President Biden's arm.
Also in the video of President Zelenskyy's arrival, at the 0:40 mark in the video, Jill Biden placed her hand on President Zelenskyy's back, then President Biden placed his hand on President Zelenskyy's back. As you can see, President Biden's hand was not on Zelenskyy's back. (here)
Analyze:
On December 22, an image of United States President Joe Biden, US First Lady Jill Biden, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went viral in which President Biden is seen touching Zelenskyy's buttocks.
The photo depicting US President Biden touching the buttocks of Ukrainian President Zelenskiy has been edited. In the original photo, Biden is seen touching Zelenskiy's back.
Based on the working methodology, this photograph is assessed as "Fraud".