Global Courant
The camps of Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis trade blows after the 2024 Florida governor’s campaign debuted an AI-generated image showing former president Dr. Anthony Fauci hugs.
It also fuels concerns about how AI “deepfakes” of altered videos, photos or audio where candidates say and do things they didn’t could affect the 2024 campaign.
“Fake footage from a fake campaign for a fake candidate. This stunt had the ‘please clap’ energy of Ron DeSanctimonious’s mentor, Jeb Bush,” a Trump campaign adviser told Fox News Digital of the footage.
One of Trump’s most vocal allies in the Senate, freshman Senator JD Vance, R-Ohio, tweeted Thursday: “Smearing Donald Trump with fake AI imagery is completely unacceptable. I don’t share them, but we are in a new era. Be even more skeptical of what you see on the internet.”
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Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis (left), Dr. Anthony Fauci (center), and former President Donald Trump (right). (Getty/AP)
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., shared Vance’s statement, adding, “Those fake AI campaign ads need to be removed immediately.”
But someone with knowledge of DeSantis’ operation accused Trump of spreading misleading content long before the post hit social media when asked about Vance’s tweet.
“If the Trump team is upset about this, I would ask them why they have been constantly posting fake images and false talking points to smear the governor,” the person told Fox News Digital.
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This is a screenshot of a video posted by the DeSantis campaign’s quick-response Twitter account featuring AI-generated images of Trump hugging Fauci (Twitter)
Last month, Trump caused a stir on Twitter after he made an AI-generated video mocking DeSantis’ campaign announcement on Twitter Spaces. It depicted DeSantis along with Twitter owner Elon Musk, along with George Soros, Adolph Hitler, and the devil among the guest contestants.
And amid the fallout from the AI images showing Trump and Fauci, DeSantis executive Christina Pushaw shared a post from the ex-president’s Truth Social app account, where Trump uploaded a photoshopped image of DeSantis on top of a rhinoceros.
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“I think this is an AI generated image. Who knows?” Pushaw wrote on Twitter.
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Vance’s office did not respond to a request for comment on whether he believes political campaigns should be able to use AI-generated images or photoshopped images.
Trump is still the leading GOP primary candidate in a crowded field in 2024. DeSantis has consistently come in second in national polls, though he is trailing Trump by double digits in most cases.
Elizabeth Elkind is a political reporter for Fox News Digital.
