Facebook has removed a video posted by President Donald Trump’s account that had twisted a viral video of two toddlers after one of the children’s parents lodged a copyright claim, CNN reports.
The clip, which racked more than 4 million views by the time Facebook took it down, is a crude and misleading edit of a video that went viral last year which shows a Black child and a White child running to hug each other. The version posted to Trump’s account made it first appear as if the Black child was running away from the White child.
The video was put on Trump’s Facebook account after he tweeted it Thursday night, the eve of Juneteenth, the oldest known holiday honoring the end of slavery in the United States.
The clip Trump promoted suggested that CNN would have spun the viral video to make it appear negative.
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In fact, CNN covered the full version of the viral video in 2019. The toddlers and their fathers also appeared on the “The Van Jones Show” on CNN.
Jukin Media, a company that represents creators of videos including the parent who owns this video, told CNN Business Friday afternoon that “Neither the video owner nor Jukin Media gave the President permission to post the video, and after our review, we believe that his unauthorized usage of the content is a clear example of copyright infringement without valid fair use or other defense.”
Michael Cisneros, the father of one of the boys in the video, said he had posted the original video to social media last year because he thought it was a beautiful, candid moment to share in the midst of racism and hate in the world.
According to CNN, Cisneros responded to Trump’s use of the video on Thursday night, writing in a Facebook post: “HE WILL NOT TURN THIS LOVING, BEAUTIFUL VIDEO TO FURTHER HIS HATE AGENDA!! !! !! !!”
Twitter labeled the video Trump tweeted as “manipulated media” shortly after he tweeted it Thursday night.
