AI behind old image of Trump at cookout surrounded by Black supporters | Fact check

Joedy McCreary, USA TODAY
·3 min read
1

The claim: Image shows Trump at a cookout surrounded by Black supporters

A May 24 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows what appears to be an image of former President Donald Trump attending a cookout while surrounded by smiling Black supporters.

“CNN will never report on this,” reads the post's caption.

The post was shared more than 100 times in five days. Similar versions were shared widely on X, formerly Twitter.

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Our rating: Altered

The image was generated with artificial intelligence, according to multiple computer science experts and two online AI-detection tools. It was originally posted in 2023 by a Trump parody account.

‘Cartoon-like’ image of Trump at cookout first shared in 2023

With his criminal hush money trial continuing in Manhattan, Trump held a campaign rally May 23 in the Bronx, the New York City borough where he received 16% of votes in 2020 and 28% of residents are Black. The timing of the Facebook post suggests the image is related to the rally.

But they’re not connected. The image is not new – and it’s not real, either. The months-old fabrication was generated using artificial intelligence, according to three computer science experts and two online tools used to detect AI creations.

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"Its overall appearance is more cartoon-like than photorealistic,” Walter Scheirer, an engineering professor at Notre Dame whose area of research includes visual recognition, told USA TODAY.

Additionally, Siwei Lyu, a digital media forensics expert at the University at Buffalo, said the image shows "clear signs of AI synthesis."

The image was first shared in 2023 by an X account that describes itself as parody and regularly shares fabricated images of Trump at various points in history. The image in question purportedly shows Trump at a cookout with supporters in June 2019.

The online AI-detection tool Hive Moderation determined it to be 99.9% likely to be AI-generated. Another tool, Illuminarty, found it to be 86.3% likely to be an AI creation.

A closer look at the details also reveals it to be a fabrication.

“It contains numerous artifacts, most obviously poorly rendered body parts and unreadable text throughout the scene,” Scheirer said.

Specifically, V.S. Subrahmanian, a computer science professor at Northwestern University and an AI expert, pointed out the misshapen hands of the men on the right side of the frame and the distorted face of the woman near Trump's right shoulder. And in another common AI hallmark, the text on the hat worn by the man behind Trump’s left shoulder is gibberish.

Artificially generated images of Trump have caused confusion on social media. USA TODAY previously debunked claims that images show Trump leading a crowd down a flag-lined street, on a plane with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and being arrested by law enforcement. Those images were all created with AI.

USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: AI behind image of Trump at cookout with Black supporters | Fact check

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