Is … is the President of the United States worried about copyright-infringing his own presidential seal?
This might sound like an alarmingly bizarre question, but it’s 2021, so anything goes, and yes, we now have reason to ask it.
Gosh, I don’t even want to think about what kind of questions we might be asking about this administration next.
President Joe Biden sparked social media users’ curiosity on Saturday after a video was uploaded to his Twitter account which, for some entirely unknown reason, had censored out the presidential seal on his podium.
I mean … what?
See for yourself:
I am so happy to say that it’s infrastructure week. pic.twitter.com/qoeyiCvegb
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 6, 2021
Twitter users were quick to notice the inexplicable blur someone appears to have added to a video of Biden speaking on his infrastructure plan from an otherwise entirely official-looking podium while flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris.
Why is the presidential seal blurred out? pic.twitter.com/CWuNzrSICT
— James ??? Pirruccello (@jpirruccello) November 6, 2021
Why are we blurring out the Presidential Seal on the podium? pic.twitter.com/1A7JA4nzoN
— Samantha (@Samanth46967378) November 6, 2021
The “presidential seal” was blurred out on the podium during Biden’s infrastructure speech.
And I don’t think this was edited bc it was uploaded to twitter by Biden’s account. https://t.co/3m2MvXdFbu pic.twitter.com/3oxMHjcCcf
— Walton De sousa?? (@WaltonDesousa) November 8, 2021
It is certainly true that the presidential seal is an official symbol of the United States government and people who use it in an unauthorized manner can be subject to fines or even imprisonment, according to Cornell Law School.
You would think, however, that there isn’t a single entity in existence that has more of a right to use the presidential seal than the president himself. If there was any doubt that Biden was authorized to upload videos of himself speaking from a podium with the presidential seal on it, his Twitter account has a helpful little label under his handle that clarifies he is, in fact, a U.S. government official.
So what gives?
There is the possibility that, because it was Biden’s personal account rather than the White House or official @POTUS account, his staffers were being careful.
If that’s the case, however, why not just upload a clip that didn’t require treating the official seal of the President of the United States like it’s the face of a suspect getting slammed against the hood of a police cruiser on “Cops”?
I mean, do they want to fuel conspiracy theories that President Biden isn’t the “real” president? Because this is how you fuel conspiracy theories that President Biden isn’t the “real” president.
Of course, as wildly far-fetched as these theories may be, the consistent appearance of incompetence on the part of the Biden administration really doesn’t help things much, not for the sake of internet forums or the appearance of our nation’s leadership on the world stage.
This is hardly the first display of Biden administration incompetence, sadly.
[firefly_poll]
President Biden has heavily relied on teleprompters to give public comments since the days that his campaign kept him carefully hidden away in his basement. Now that he officially is in the White House, he clearly sometimes struggles to read those teleprompters.
He has on multiple occasions told reporters he’ll “get in trouble” if he takes too many questions from them, and it’s rumored that staffers have a well-oiled game plan to shield him from reporters on the occasions that he’s not so mindful of his anxious handlers.
Then there was the very strange decision on the part of the White House to film President Biden getting his booster for live TV, not in the Oval Office or somewhere normal, but on a White House set, complete with fake windows, for absolutely no known sensible reason whatsoever.
The White House has also cut his feed more than once before the president was set to take questions for a live stream. When he’s not faced with technical glitches, Biden often glitches out himself, frequently forgetting what he’s saying, fumbling awkwardly over words or weirdly whispering into the microphone.
In short, the Biden administration rarely appears to have its act together, least of all President Joe Biden.
It really doesn’t help matters much that the inexplicably blurred presidential seal is just the latest in a long string of such incidents, each one weirder and more confusing than the last.
This is the leader of the free world, the commander in chief of the most powerful nation the world has ever known, the executive of our planet’s most prosperous and influential nation … and not a week goes by that the White House isn’t screwing up or otherwise making Biden look bad or desperately trying to cover when he makes himself look bad.
I don’t know why the presidential seal is blurred, but I certainly do know this: Something is not right in the White House.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
