Ron DeSantis ad uses AI-generated photos of Trump, Fauci
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on June 7, 2023 at 18:15
- Updated on April 29, 2024 at 16:54
- 6 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
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"Donald Trump became a household name by FIRING countless people *on television*," the DeSantis rapid response team wrote in a June 5, 2023 tweet sharing the video. "But when it came to Fauci..."
The 44-second spot contrasts footage of Trump telling contestants "You're fired" during his time as a reality TV show host with clips of him explaining why he would not give the boot to Fauci, who headed the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and was the face of America's coronavirus response.
Fauci, who became the White House chief medical advisor under President Joe Biden, retired from public service last year. The prominent US health official was praised by many for his efforts during the pandemic, but he also became a target for spreaders of Covid-19 misinformation. He drew the wrath of some US conservatives for his early promotion of social distancing and other public health measures meant to slow the spread of Covid-19.
As Trump is heard in the DeSantis ad saying that firing Fauci would have been like dropping a "bomb," the screen flashes to a collage comprising six pictures of Trump and Fauci.
Three of the photos are authentic, showing the men together in March 2020. Photographers for Getty Images, the National Institutes of Health and Reuters captured the shots (archived here, here and here).
But the other pictures, purportedly of Trump kissing Fauci's cheek three different times, have the hallmarks of AI-generated imagery.
"It was sneaky to intermix what appears to be authentic photos with fake photos, but these three images are almost certainly AI generated," said Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and expert in digital forensics, misinformation and image analysis.
Farid and two other media forensics experts polled by AFP agreed the images have irregular characteristics typical of those produced by AI.
"These images contain many signs indicating that they were AI-generated," said Matthew Stamm, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Drexel University, who specializes in detecting falsified images and videos. "For example, if you look closely at Donald Trump's hair in the top-left, bottom-middle, 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 regions of his face."
AFP contacted the DeSantis and Trump campaigns for comment, but no responses were forthcoming.
Among other indications of fakery, the sign behind Trump and Fauci in the collage's upper-left image resembles the backdrop of the White House press briefing room, but the text is incomprehensible and does not properly spell "The White House" or "Washington."
Siwei Lyu, director of the Media Forensic Lab at the University of Buffalo, told AFP the image also portrays Trump's right arm in an abnormal position, with it appearing to extend too far as it wraps fully around Fauci's body.
The bottom-right image, meanwhile, includes "differences in the shape of Trump's ear as compared to stock photos," Farid told AFP.
And the lower-middle image shows many inconsistencies, including irregular patterns between the stars on the flag, the experts said.
Trump's right hand in the picture is also "clearly generated with the thumb in an unnatural position," Lyu said.
At the same time, Stamm noted that Trump's left hand does not appear to have a thumb in the image, instead blending into his right hand.
AFP also observed ridges of differing sizes on the pillar in the picture.
The pillar, along with the flag, is positioned in the image so that it obstructs the view of the White House logo. But authentic photos of the briefing room show that in reality, the flag and column are situated on opposite sides of the emblem, without blocking it.
AFP could not independently determine the origin of the pictures of Trump embracing Fauci. But reverse image searches for original sources did not return any results, which Farid said makes it "highly likely" they are fabricated.
"I am pretty sure these are not real photos," Lyu added.
The video's incorporation of AI-generated imagery comes after a previous ad from Never Back Down, a Super PAC supporting DeSantis, used digital editing to superimpose a visual of jets flying overhead onto video of one of the governor's speeches, according to reports.
The Republican National Committee also came under fire in April for an ad that used AI-produced images to depict an apocalyptic future under a second Biden term.
AFP has previously debunked other AI-generated visuals, including here and here.
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