DeSantis campaign accused of using fake AI images of Trump hugging Fauci in ad

The two Republican candidates are trading attacks over their respective Covid responses

Gov Ron DeSantis’ campaign has been accused of using fake, AI-generated images of former President Donald Trump hugging ex-White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci in an attack ad.

Mr DeSantis and Mr Trump have been trading barbs for weeks about their respective Covid responses, with Mr Trump’s campaign and surrogates arguing that Mr DeSantis’ initial lockdown measures in Florida were too harsh and Mr DeSantis’ campaign arguing that Mr Trump was too acquiescent to medical professionals like Dr Fauci in crafting his administration’s response.

Now, in the ad shared by the the “DeSantis War Room” Twitter account, the Florida governor’s campaign is accused of crossing an ethical line.

The adveritsement begins with clips of Mr Trump firing people on his reality television show before pivoting to clips of Mr Trump telling reporters that he would not or could not fire Dr Fauci, who was seen as the symbol of a public health response to the crisis some Republicans disagreed with.

Towards the end of the ad, the screen shows a split with six images of Mr Trump and Dr Fauci — three of which experts believe were generated by artificial intelligence. AFP first reported the presence of the allegedly fake images.

An ad from the Ron DeSantis campaign that purportedly features fake AI images of former President Donald Trump and former NIAID director Anthony Fauci (Twitter/@DeSantisWarRoom)

The three images experts believe are fake are located in the top left, bottom centre, and bottom right of the screen. All of them feature Mr Trump and Dr Fauci embracing and cannot be found elsewhere on the internet, a sign that they may be AI-generated.

There are other signs as well. The Verge noted that the potentially AI-generated images are glossier and have more blurred textures than the other images and show Mr Trump and Dr Fauci in physically improbable poses. The reproduction of the White House press briefing room in one of the images also looks unrealistic.

Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, told the AFP he believed it is “highly likely” that the images are fake. The Independent has reached out to the DeSantis campaign for comment.

So far, the DeSantis campaign is not exactly denying those allegations. After The Verge’s story was published, DeSantis aide Christina Pushaw tweeted an image Mr Trump had put out of Mr DeSantis on a rhinoceros and wrote “I think this might be an AI-generated image. Who knows?”

Mr Trump has indeed used AI several times in recent months, including posting a deep fake mocking Mr DeSantis’ presidential campaign launch.

“No campaign has pushed more misleading deepfakes, false photoshops, and outright fabrications than the Trump campaign,” Matt Wolking, a spokesperson for the DeSantis-aligned Never Back Down PAC, told The Verge. “It is 100% true that Donald Trump empowered and embraced Fauci — he even gave him a presidential commendation.”