DeSantis Ad Shows Fake AI Images Of Trump Hugging Fauci

Topline

Former President Donald Trump’s allies attacked Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.)’s presidential campaign over a video it released showing what appear to be computer-generated images of Trump physically embracing former White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci—as the use of artificial intelligence threatens to blur the lines between trickery and reality in the upcoming election cycle.

Dr. Anthony Fauci (R), former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, … [+] looks on as then-President Donald Trump delivers remarks about coronavirus vaccine development in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

Trump is seen in several images, which appear to be generated by artificial intelligence, hugging Fauci in the social media video posted Monday by the DeSantis War Room Twitter account, captioned “Donald Trump became a household name by FIRING countless people *on television*,” referring to NBC’s reality TV show starring Trump, The Apprentice, in which he judges contestants’ business acumen.

The ad mocks Trump for not firing Fauci, who has been demonized by the right for his Covid-19 leadership.

Trump’s backers blasted DeSantis over the ad: Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who has endorsed Trump, called it “completely unacceptable” in a tweet Thursday that warns readers to “be even more skeptical of what you see on the internet.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) retweeted Vance and said the ad “needs to be taken down immediately.”

Trump adviser Jason Miller called DeSantis a “phony” in response to the ad, while far-right activist and Trump ally Laura Loomer accused Twitter of “bias” for censoring other content, but allowing the video to circulate on social media.

Forbes has reached out to the DeSantis campaign.

Chief Critic

The American Association of Political Consultants warned that “deep fake” content poses a “dangerous threat to democracy” in a statement last month that condemned the use of “deceptive” aI content in political campaigns.

Key Background

DeSantis and Trump have been warring over each other’s responses to the Covid-19 outbreak, with both launching accusations that the other was more restrictive in a bid to appeal to GOP voters who doubted the seriousness of the pandemic. The attacks from both candidates contradict previous public statements they’ve made. DeSantis said in March 2020 he “defer[s] to people like Dr. Fauci,” and that he was doing a “really good job.” Trump, meanwhile, accused DeSantis in a May Truth Social post of failing to prevent Covid-19 deaths and made the contradictory suggestion that he unnecessarily closed Florida’s economy during the pandemic, defying his previous praise of DeSantis, who he said was doing a “spectacular job in Florida,” while meeting with him at the White House in April 2020.

What To Watch For

Both Democrats and Republicans have expressed plans to leverage AI during the 2024 election cycle in an effort to streamline operations, such as identifying fundraising audiences and generating written content for candidates, the New York Times reported. In several recent instances, AI-generated images of prominent political figures have been widely shared on social media, including fake images of Trump being arrested and depicting him in prison in the lead-up to his April indictment in Manhattan Criminal Court.

Tangent

The Republican National Committee in April aired an ad attacking President Joe Biden that was produced entirely by artificial intelligence, featuring apocalyptic scenes depicting the state of the world if he is re-elected.