US congressman shares AI fake of singer blasting Trump supporters
- Published on January 2, 2026 at 22:40
- 2 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
US Congressman Tim Burchett shared a video on X purporting to show American rock musician Jack White calling Donald Trump supporters "fascists" and demanding that they stop listening to his music. But while White has been an outspoken critic of the president, the clip Burchett amplified was generated by artificial intelligence, the rocker said on Instagram.
"Jack White just doubled down against Trump supporters saying, 'Don't even think about listening to my music, you fascists,'" said a since-deleted December 29, 2025 post on X.
Burchett, a Republican representing Tennessee and fierce ally of Trump, shared the post to his more than 400,000 followers.
"That cute little girl from the Addams Family got really ugly and angry," he wrote, referring to the fictional household of eccentric, spooky characters created by a cartoonist in the 1900s.
The clip spread further on X, Instagram and Facebook.
White, the lead singer and guitarist for the legendary rock band "The White Stripes," has repeatedly called Trump and his agenda "fascist" (archived here, here and here). In December, he described him a "disgusting, vile, egomaniac, loser, child" (archived here).
The rocker sued Trump and his presidential campaign in 2024 for using the band's hit song "Seven Nation Army" in a video, before later dropping the case. At the time, he wrote on Instagram: "Oh....Don't even think about using my music you fascists" (archived here).
But the clip shared by Burchett of White verbalizing a similar line toward Trump supporters is not authentic.
In a lengthy December 30, 2025 post on Instagram, White rebuked Burchett and said the clip was "an AI generated video, containing a false comment that I never said and refuted" (archived here).
The Hiya.com voice-cloning detection tool within the Verification Plugin, also known as InVID-WeVerify, assessed that clip's audio is "very likely AI-generated."
The visual, meanwhile, appears derived from footage of remarks White delivered while accepting his band's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November (archived here). He wore the same red jacket, black shirt and white tie at the ceremony.
He did not mention Trump, Trump's supporters nor fascism in the speech.
Burchett previously amplified false claims that the suspect in the Kansas City Chiefs 2024 Super Bowl victory parade was an illegal immigrant.
Replying to another user who pointed out that the video of White was not real, the lawmaker wrote: "You mean it's not the girl from the Addams Family?"
AFP has fact-checked other AI-generated misinformation here.
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