After MRCTV reported that the White House posted video muting out audio of French Pres. Francoise Hollande and his translator saying the words, “Islamist terrorism,” the White House posted an explanation claiming “a technical issue with the audio during the recording” caused the lost audio – but, then, somehow, posted a link a version of the video without the recording “technical error.”
And, despite acknowledging that audio was missing from the video, the White House left video with the “drop in the audio” on its website, inviting readers to click on a link to see the full, unedited, error-free video and audio:
“A technical issue with the audio during the recording of President Hollande's remarks led to a brief drop in the audio recording of the English interpretation. As soon as this was brought to our attention, we posted an updated video online here with the complete audio, which is consistent with the written transcript we released yesterday.”
This acknowledgement raises some interesting questions:
- If the audio was, indeed, lost (for just that comment) during recording, how did they resurrect it?
- If there were two versions of the video, why did they originally pull the glitch-free version, then post the one with the audio missing, in the first place?
- In the version in which the translator’s audio is lost for the “Islamist terror” comment, why is Hollande speaking in French still audible – except for when he mouths the words, “Islamist terrorism”?
- Why is audio of Hollande audible for the entire comment, except the words “Islamist terrorism”?
- Why is the version of the video with the glitch still on the White House website, right next to the acknowledgement that it has an error?
UPDATE: As of Saturday, April 2, the White House has removed its comments and link to the "complete audio" video and replaced the muted video with the version containing the "complete audio" on the White House Video page.
ALSO SEE: "Why the White House's 'Dropped Audio' Alibi Is Absurd"
Editor's Note: Ashley Rae Goldenberg contributed to this report.