YouTube blocks U.S. government from using Trump campaign ads that include doctored CNN footage

YouTube is blocking the U.S. government from using doctored CNN footage made by the Trump campaign in ads that target voters, citing company “policies for manipulated media.”<br><br><br>The decision is the latest skirmish in a long-running showdown between President Donald Trump and U.S. media outlets, whom he frequently calls "fake news," and it raises questions about whether fact-checking will have any impact on Trump's re-election bid for the White House.<br><br><br>The doctored footage, which was posted to the president’s YouTube channel, suggests that CNN made a mistake when it used a “breaking news” graphic that included the words “Terrified todler runs from racist baby” to describe a viral video of two young boys hugging each other.<br><br><br>The video, in reality, took place in New York City in September 2019 and showed two 1-year-old boys embracing in Washington Square Park, one black and one white, before running up a grassy hill together. The “racist baby” graphic was made up by the president’s team to make it appear that CNN was portraying white babies as racist, though CNN never ran that graphic at all.<br><br><br>CNN then aired an actual report the next day that used a different graphic that fact-checked the president's tweet that included the fake graphic. The report called it "manipulated" and said it was "doctored." But the president edited that CNN report into a manufactured video to make it appear that it was the actual report from CNN, and even went as far as to suggest that the network was trying to brainwash viewers into believing a falsehood.<br><br><br>President Trump later tweeted the altered video, saying it was a “disgusting” report by CNN that aired on June 1, the day it posted the fact-check report. It remains the top post on the president’s Twitter page and it includes the doctored CNN video, which has been viewed more than 9 million times and “liked” more than 500,000 times.<br><br><br>YouTube’s blocks U.S. government from using doctored CNN footage in ads targeting voters