During the monologue of his show Thursday night, Jimmy Kimmel shared a clip of Vice President Mike Pence at Woodbine Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Alexandria, Virginia, earlier that day. In the video, the vice president assists in unloading personal protective equipment from a truck and upon being told that they were finished aside from a few empty boxes, Pence asks: “Well can I carry the empty ones? Just for the camera?”

The segment went viral on Twitter, with even prominent figures like NBC’s Andrea Mitchell and Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. sharing the video:

Matt McDermott @mattmfm

Mike Pence caught on hot mic delivering empty boxes of PPE for a PR stunt.

May 8th 2020

70,168 Retweets169,724 Likes

Andrea Mitchell @mitchellreports

What can we say? Fake photo op?

Matt McDermott @mattmfm

Mike Pence caught on hot mic delivering empty boxes of PPE for a PR stunt. https://t.co/IduvGhiPwj

May 8th 2020

5,210 Retweets15,626 Likes

Aaron Rupar @atrupar

This is astounding

Matt McDermott @mattmfm

Mike Pence caught on hot mic delivering empty boxes of PPE for a PR stunt. https://t.co/IduvGhiPwj

May 8th 2020

1,453 Retweets4,783 Likes

Bill Pascrell, Jr. @BillPascrell

You would be hardpressed to find a better metaphor for the comically malicious incompetence of this failed government.

Matt McDermott @mattmfm

Mike Pence caught on hot mic delivering empty boxes of PPE for a PR stunt. https://t.co/IduvGhiPwj

May 8th 2020

1,430 Retweets4,202 Likes

Kimmel’s segment, however, was edited to leave out important context; namely that Pence appears to be joking. The full interaction can be viewed on CSPAN’s website (at approximately the 9:05 mark), and shows the vice president and those he’s talking to laughing after he asks the question. Pence then closed the van’s doors and walked away to thank some workers and give remarks. Here is the relevant portion, in a video posted by PBS.

Based on the unedited video, it’s clear that Kimmel’s segment was misleading and that the vice president wasn’t “pretending to carry empty boxes of PPEs into a hospital.” And Kimmel himself has now acknowledged that with a follow-up tweet.

Jimmy Kimmel @jimmykimmel

it would appear that @VP was joking about carrying empty boxes for a staged publicity stunt. The full video reveals that he was carrying full boxes for a staged publicity stunt. My apologies. I know how dearly this administration values truth.

Matt McDermott @mattmfm

Mike Pence caught on hot mic delivering empty boxes of PPE for a PR stunt. https://t.co/IduvGhiPwj

May 8th 2020

1,617 Retweets8,583 Likes

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