The White House claimed a technical glitch caused the omission of the French president’s remark that ‘Islamist terrorism’ is at the “roots of terrorism.”

Virginia-based Media Research Center TV (MRCTV) published a White House video of comments made Thursday by French President Francois Hollande on the rise of global terror, and the words “Islamist terrorism” seemed to be blotted out.

According to MRCTV, the White House briefly pulled the video of a press event on terrorism with US President Barack Obama, and when it reappeared on the White House government website and YouTube, “the audio of Hollande’s translator goes silent, beginning with the words ‘Islamist terrorism,’ [and] then begins again at the end of his sentence.”

“Even the audio of Hollande saying the words ‘Islamist terrorism’ in French have, apparently, been edited from the video,” MRCTV adds.

Watch the video – you must see it to believe it!

Hollande stated: “We’re also well aware that the roots of terrorism. Islamist terrorism is in Syria and in Iraq.  We therefore have to act both in Syria and in Iraq, and this is what we’re doing within the framework of the coalition.  And we note that Daesh [Islamic State] is losing ground thanks to the strikes we’ve been able to launch with the coalition.”

In response to the MRCTV report, the White House claimed that “a technical issue with the audio during the recording” caused the omission of certain words. On Saturday, the muted video was replaced with the version containing the “complete audio” on the White House Video page.

Interesting Questions Raised

Acknowledgement of the omission raises some interesting questions, MRCTV notes, asking the following:

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?

By: United with Israel Staff
(With files from MRCTV)