Trump Campaign Uses AI Synthetic Content to Engage Base
Donald Trump and his allies are deploying AI-generated memes and synthetic imagery to cultivate a godlike image and mobilize political supporters.
The White House and Donald Trump are implementing a communications strategy that relies on AI-generated synthetic content and memes to engage his political base. This approach utilizes fanfakes, which depict Trump as a pope, a Founding Father, or a Jesus-like figure, to maintain a pedestal-like image among supporters and seed specific ideas into cultural discourse.
State Department official Nick Adams has been central to this strategy by sharing these images. While some content, including a racist video of Barack and Michelle Obama and certain blasphemous depictions, was deleted following public backlash, Trump has continued to amplify similar synthetic media.
Political opponents have responded by using foefakes to mock the president. California Governor Gavin Newsom has utilized trolling and synthetic imagery on X to criticize Trump. The strategy has also drawn international attention, with the embassy of Iran to Tajikistan posting a satirical video mocking the depictions of Trump as Jesus. The Purdue University Governance and Responsible AI Lab has categorized these evolving political deepfakes into four distinct types: darkfakes, glowfakes, foefakes, and fanfakes.
