On Wednesday, footage of Joe Biden and Barack Obama speaking at Ethel Kennedy's funeral went viral.
I found the full exchange between Obama and Biden at Ethel Kennedy's funeral — a VERY tense conversation 20 days out from the election.
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) October 16, 2024
If anyone can read lips, please let me know what they're saying. It's probably good. pic.twitter.com/BIZTL61SHT
It appears to be a a consequential discussion, and at one point, Obama notices that cameras are watching them and he immediately turns to hide what he's saying.
Since this footage went viral, there have been lots of memes — which are hilarious — but the New York Post actually hired a professional lip reader to decipher their conversation. And, it's pure gold.
President Biden griped to former President Barack Obama that “she” is “not as strong as me” — with Obama agreeing “that’s true” — in a stunning off-mic conversation deciphered for The Post by a professional lip reader.
The apparent candid assessment of Vice President Kamala Harris’ standing going into the Nov. 5 election occurred Wednesday afternoon as America’s two most recent Democratic presidents conversed at Ethel Kennedy’s memorial service in Washington.
“She’s not as strong as me,” said Biden, 81, according the translation, which was produced by analyzing the on-video lip movements during the discussion.
“I know … that’s true,” the popular former president agreed, adding, “We have time.”
“Yeah, we’ll get it in time,” said Biden, who was forced by fellow Democrats to relinquish the party’s nomination in favor of Harris on July 21 in a mutiny that Obama was believed to support.
Moments earlier, Obama said, “it’s important that we have some time together” in a possible reference to campaigning alongside Harris.
The dialogue between Obama and Biden came from Jeremy Freeman, a London-based forensic lip reader who was born deaf and has spent 16 years as a certified expert witness for University College London, assisting litigants, police, and journalists.
For our VIPs: Joe Biden Totally Wants Kamala Harris to Lose
The Post notes that while Kamala's name did not appear in the transcription of the conversation, "it’s unclear to whom else the conversation could have pertained."
Freeman described the conservation as “very supportive” and said he detected “no tension” between Obama and Biden, as had been speculated in viral commentary due to Obama shaking his head at one point.
Democratic sources were divided when asked about the translation — with some saying they believe it was an honest take on the state of the 2024 race and others expressing such strong disbelief that they questioned the accuracy of the script.
“From the outset, there has been widespread concern that Harris was not a strong alternative to Biden, who clearly was a sinking ship. So much so [that] multiple House members floated the idea of an open convention or removing Harris from the ticket along with Biden,” said one Democratic source.
Obama’s team didn’t comment on the story, and Biden spokesman Andrew Bates dismissed the lip-reading expert’s interpretation.
"A ‘lip reading expert’? Did your usual right-wing soothsayer have their out-of-office up?" Bates said. "Only President Biden and President Obama know what they discussed, but this certainly wasn’t it.”
Two former Biden White House officials, now supporting Harris, expressed shock at the translation and doubted its accuracy, with one calling for a new lip reader and another saying it doesn’t sound like something Biden would say.
Actually, it does. It really does.
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