Did Marketa Pekarova Adamova, the Czech President of the Chamber of Deputies, suggest people stop bathing to save on energy costs? No, that's not true: The video's original audio has been manipulated.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok, where it was published by @bohemianbulletin on December 16, 2023, under the Czech title, translated into English by Lead Stories staff that reads: "whole part on YouTube." It opened with Ms. Pekarova Adamova allegedly saying, as translated by Lead Stories staff:
I would like to thank all those who sent me their votes, I can't even put into words how thankful I am. I really appreciate this award and even though I know I pissed you off a little bit with the sweater, you can see that a lot of you could understand me and that you can tighten your belts a little bit. We can save money together, not only on heating but also on water, and not just take a bath every day like some Arab sheikh, but take a bath once every three days, even as a family together, and enjoy some extra time together.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Dec 18 15:45:47 2023 UTC)
In the original unaltered video, Adamova does not express statements resembling those in the manipulated footage. The lip sync in the video is also visibly out of sync with the audio. Additionally, the TikTok post neglects to inform that the audio has been doctored. The video has also been shared on YouTube.
