DeSantis attack ad uses FAKE AI image of Trump hugging Fauci

An attack ad released by the presidential campaign of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis used AI-generated images of former President Donald Trump portraying Dr. Anthony Fauci hugged.

This was reported by AFP on Wednesday that three of the images in the 44-second attack ad are fake.

That footage shows Trump hugging and kissing Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who became synonymous with the US response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ad shows Apprentice-era Trump firing a number of individuals, but then refusing to stand by Fauci, whom conservatives blamed for COVID lockdowns, school closures and masking.

As Trump’s audio explaining why he never fired Fauci plays, a collage of six images of the two men together is shown – with three genuine photos and three deep fakes.

On Close Look, What ‘The White House: Washington’ Is Supposed to Say in the Press Room is Gibberish and Trump’s Hair Has ‘Inconsistent Textures,’ One Expert Said

The words “Real Life Trump” were placed over the collage.

“It was sneaky mixing seemingly authentic photos with fake ones, but these three images were almost certainly AI generated,” Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and an expert in digital forensics, misinformation and image analysis, told me. AFP.

Farid and two other experts interviewed by AFP noted that the images had unusual features, often exposing photos as AI creations.

“These images have a lot of signs that indicate they are AI-generated,” Matthew Stamm, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Drexel University who specializes in detecting counterfeit images and videos, told AFP.

Trump’s hair, Stamm said, betrayed it.

“For example, if you look closely at Donald Trump’s hair in the top left, bottom center, and bottom right images, you can see that it contains inconsistent textures and is significantly blurrier than other nearby content, such as his ears or other parts of his face, ‘ he said.

The top left photo of the collage also appears to show Trump kissing Fauci on the face in the White House briefing room.

However, upon closer inspection, the words behind the two men are gibberish — not “The White House: Washington” — which a real photo would show.

When questioned about the use of AI-generated imagery, allies of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pointed out how the Trump campaign has used deepfakes and fabrications

Neither the DeSantis nor Trump campaigns initially responded to AFP’s request for comment.

Instead, a back and forth about using the images on Twitter.

DeSantis’ Rapid Response Director Christina Pushaw tweeted a Trump Truth Social post on Thursday that showed DeSantis riding a rhinoceros.

A RINO — a “Republican in name only” — is a dig at Republicans who are too moderate or not aligned enough with Trump.

“I think this is an AI-generated image. Who knows?’ Pushaw commented on the obviously fake image.

Matt Wolking, a spokesman for the Never Back Down PAC, which supports DeSantis, told The Verge that the Trump campaign’s use of deepfakes was more problematic.

“No campaign has pushed more deceptive deepfakes, bogus photoshops and outright fabrications than the Trump campaign,” said Wolking. “It’s 100 percent true that Donald Trump empowered and embraced Fauci — even gave him a presidential award,” he added.

Wolking declined to answer whether the DeSantis campaign used AI technology for the ad.

“You’ll have to ask the campaign,” he said.

Trump spokesman Jason Miller explained the coverage of the images on Twitter on Thursday.

‘Unholy!!!’ exclaimed Miller.

donald trump jr. responded directly to Pushaw’s rhino posting.

It’s also hilarious to see the DeSantis campaign actually trying to justify being caught red-handed using Deep Fake images in their ad captioned “real life Trump,” by comparing it to my dad who posted a joke of Ron riding his favorite animal,” Trump Jr. said.

Ohio Senator JD Vance, who has already endorsed Trump, was disturbed by the use of the fake images.

“Smearing Donald Trump with fake AI images is completely unacceptable,” Vance tweeted. “I don’t share them, but we are in a new era. Be even more skeptical of what you see on the internet.”