Trump fans are spreading images generated by artificial intelligence on social media, in which the former, and possibly the future, president poses with dark-skinned Americans.
MAGA influencers spread AI-generated images of the Republican Party presidential candidate leading the race on social media About Donald Trump.
MAGA is an abbreviation of what has become Trump’s catchphrase Make America Great Again –from eyelashes.
Recently, fans have published a lot of pictures on social media in which Trump poses with dark-skinned Americans. However, the images are not real photographs, but works of art created by artificial intelligence.
The footage shows that the use of AI-generated propaganda in the upcoming presidential election is not just a likely scenario, but a proven fact.
Of the images made public by the BBC, one was originally published on social media in November and the other in October 2023. Both images have since gone viral again.
MAGA influencer followed by tens of thousands Shaggy shared the photo below in January. He claimed that Trump stopped his motorcade and stayed to pose with the young people who waved at him.
Another Trump supporter shared the same photo in February, when the United States celebrated the central role of African Americans in the country’s history.
Shaggy was approached by a BBC reporter for comment on the spread of AI images, but received a blunt response.
– I have reached thousands of warm-hearted Christians with my publications, Shaggy stated to the BBC reporter before blocking him on X.
At that time, more than 1.3 million people had seen the picture.
“I am a storyteller”
Radio host Mark Kaye in turn shared an AI-generated image of Trump in the middle of Christmas. All other people in the picture are dark-skinned.
– I never thought I would say that the leader of the Black Lives Matter movement supports Trump, but Christmas is a time of miracles, Kaye stated in his Facebook post.
The BBC also contacted Kaye.
– I’m not a photojournalist. I don’t take pictures of things that actually happened. I’m a storyteller, Kaye told the BBC.
– I have not claimed that the picture is true. If someone ends up voting for a person because of a Facebook picture, that’s their own problem, he continued.
Founder of Black Voters Matter Cliff Albright told the BBC that the phenomenon is already familiar from the 2020 elections.
– We have found that efforts have been made to influence young black voters with the help of disinformation, Albright said.
The next president of the USA will be elected in November.