Camouflage and deception

Image of Trump in hurricane floods is AI-generated

Trump arriving in Valdosta to visit the areas affected by Hurricane Helene.

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The US election campaign is entering its hottest phase in the weeks leading up to election day on November 5. In the midst of this tense situation, parts of the USA have been hit by severe hurricanes. Both Democrat and Republican supporters have tried to use this to their advantage, the latter increasingly using misinformation. Recently, for example, an AI-generated image showing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump went viral.

Assessment: The image was created using generative AI. Trump did indeed travel to Georgia and spoke to those affected and helpers there. However, he did not wade through water. In addition, the image itself has some inconsistencies.

Review: Two hurricanes within a few weeks caused severe devastation and well over a hundred deaths in the south-east of the USA. Hurricanes "Helene" and "Milton" were among the most devastating in US history. Experts attribute their wind speeds of more than 220 kilometers per hour and accompanying heavy rainfall to the man-made climate crisis.

In this context, a few days after "Helene", a picture appeared online showing Donald Trump wearing a life jacket next to a presumed helper. Both are wading through more than knee-high dirty water, with cars in the background. It is unclear where and when the picture was taken. His message, however, is clear: even in their most difficult hours, Donald Trump is there for those affected.

Trump and Harris traveled to crisis areas
Both Kamala Harris, candidate of the Democratic Party, and her opponent Trump traveled to areas particularly affected by the natural disaster after Hurricane Helene. They were followed by the media at every turn. Harris made his way to Augusta (Georgia) on October 2 (8) and met aid workers in Charlotte (North Carolina) three days later (9).

Two days after Harris, Trump also traveled to Augusta and was photographed there several times with those affected and first responders (10). On September 30 (11), the former president visited the particularly hard-hit town of Valdosta in southern Georgia, where he also spoke to media representatives (12) and those affected.

Valdosta was hit hard by Hurricane Helene, with the greatest damage being caused by wind speeds of over 160 kilometers per hour (13). However, agency images from the city do not show any flooding (14). Nevertheless, the picture with Trump is said to have been taken there, as can be read in comments under the original upload of the picture. Trump had not visited any other places hit by hurricanes during the current election campaign until October 1, when the picture was published.

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Image obviously created with AI
It takes little effort to prove that the image was generated by AI. On the one hand, numerous visual inconsistencies point to this: for example, a general soft focus, but also uneven blurring effects on the car in the background. In addition, Trump's right hand appears misshapen and his thumb is bent. The lettering on the cap and the life jackets are illegible.

The picture also raises logical questions: Trump can be seen wearing jeans in the AI-generated image - completely atypical for him and for the situation. It is also surprising why there should only be this one photo of the situation. If Trump had actually made such an appearance, it would have been shown by numerous media outlets apart from his own staging, presumably also with moving images from different angles.

Role of AI in the US presidential election campaign
Content created by generative AI has been increasingly present in the US election campaign to date. For example, the Trump image in the flood alone resulted in internet users reacting with malice and, for example, having US President Joe Biden rescue cats from the floods in an AI-generated image with mouth and nose protection and pointing to another Trump with sharks or on a cell phone mast.

Conversely, one consequence of the AI hype is that the authenticity of real photos is increasingly being questioned (18). For example, Harris' campaign team is said to have passed off an allegedly AI-generated image of an appearance at Detroit airport as a real photo. However, a digital forensic report commissioned by APA-Faktencheck came to the conclusion that there were "no signs of image altering post-processing".

"Classic" false claims dominate
The Trump team seems to have made do with "classic" false claims so far in order to create an atmosphere against their political opponent. Be it the most famous disinformation about Haitians allegedly eating pets or conspiracy narratives about hurricanes controlled by the Democrats - all of these and more have already been refuted several times.

But the misinformation has not been without consequences: Most recently, a man with multiple weapons was arrested for allegedly threatening employees of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A few days earlier, several Democratic representatives in the House of Representatives urged the companies behind the social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Discord, YouTube and Snapchat to take stronger action against misinformation surrounding the recent hurricanes.

But there is also resistance within Trump's party. In a recent press release, Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards from North Carolina listed eight pieces of false information and allegations surrounding Hurricane Helene (25), which was met with a worldwide media response.