Donald Trump is facing allegations of employing AI in his statement regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
President Trump is quite familiar with the capabilities of artificial intelligence.
Recently, he hosted a dinner at the White House with some of the tech industry’s leading figures to discuss how AI can ‘propel the US to the forefront of global innovation.’ Following this, he experimented with the technology by creating an AI-generated image of himself inspired by the movie Apocalypse Now as a bold statement aimed at Chicago on Saturday.
However, there are growing concerns among viewers that the President might be resorting to AI assistance for his statements. This speculation arose after Trump released a somewhat glitchy video of himself addressing the nation from the White House.
In the video, Trump condemned the ‘heinous’ assassination of his ‘very good friend,’ political activist and prominent Trump supporter, Charlie Kirk. Kirk was tragically shot and killed at the age of 31 during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday (September 10).
Paying homage to Kirk, Trump described him as a ‘patriot who devoted his life to the cause of open debate and the country he loved so much, the United States of America.’
“He fought for liberty, democracy, justice, and the American people,” Trump stated. “He’s a martyr for truth and freedom and there’s never been anyone who was so respected by youth.”
Throughout the four-minute video, many viewers noticed ‘glitchy movements,’ with observers pointing out changes in Trump’s hand, the background, and even his mouth that ‘looks off at parts in the video.’
Less than 20 seconds into the video, viewers noticed an anomaly where Trump’s hand appears to jump, and his ring finger ‘goes missing,’ blending into his right hand.
“Weird moment at 19 seconds in. I feel like I’m losing my mind,” one Twitter user commented, though they added that Trump has ‘such weird tics that he’s a guy who talks like he’s AI generated.’
Many others questioned whether the entire video or portions of it were created using AI, expressing that they felt like they were ‘tripping’ while watching it.
“Just look at his hands the whole time. The proof is there. No need to look for the more subtle hints,” users on Reddit commented.
“I mean his ring finger straight up disappears. No shrooms needed.”
“Well he has been posting other AI videos lately so it wouldn’t surprise me,” another user added.
On the other hand, several viewers suggested that the glitches were indicative of footage edited with a specific technique.
“It’s a common editing tool called a ‘Morph Edit’ that you use when you can’t get everything in one take, so, you take the end of the first take plus the start of the other take and the editing program ‘Morphs’ them into a single take,” a tech-savvy Redditor explained. “Very common tool that has been around for years before AI was a thing.”
Another agreed, saying: “That’s what I think is happening, they’re hiding a cut. Probably still not a great sign that the sitting US president can’t string two paragraphs together without a break but I don’t think it’s all AI.”
One more individual noted it looked like a ‘time cut,’ observing the ‘tonal quality’ of the background ‘outside the window darkens.’
Trump’s statement followed the incident where Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization he co-founded, when he was shot.
Authorities continue an extensive manhunt for the perpetrator, who is believed to have acted alone and fired the deadly shot from a nearby rooftop.
The White House has been contacted for comment.