On Monday Ron DeSantis released a campaign video that included images of Donald Trump hugging and kissing Dr. Anthony Fauci:
Three of the images in this collage are real. The three that show Trump hugging Fauci are AI fakes.
DeSantis's excuse? He refuses to comment. However:
A person with the DeSantis campaign told CNN that the video was a social media post, not a paid advertisement, and pointed out that members of Trump’s team had also used fake or doctored images in the past.
That's about as lame as it gets. DeSantis was supposed to be the "competent Trump," but so far he's only shown that he's the Trump's Trump. This kind of fake attack imagery is every bit as bad as the stuff that Trump himself engages in.
So far, he's only shown that he's the stupid Trump.
That's quite an accomplishment.
It did backfire on him.
Hey - are you all going to have a debate between Biden and RFK?
Like the Republican debates in 2020?
I haven’t heard that we’re planning on canceling primaries, as the Republicans did in 2020.
The following is a list of all previous primary debates that included same-party candidates challenging an incumbent president (regardless of party affiliation):
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Does that answer your question?
Yes, thank you. An your answer was clever as well.
rfk jr. is a slightly more serious candidate than bill the cat.
Who all? If RFK get nominated by Republicans, I'm sure Biden will debate him.
Until then, well, he's not going to garner 5% Democratic votes anywhere, so...
He should have sold them as electronic trading cards.
You mean how "you guys" conducted debates when trump announced his bid for reelection?
And the "Republican" Party had no posted 2020 party platform, because it was just anything that trump says, goes?
That trope is getting old & isn't the effective attack that some think it is.
But perhaps you're just unhappy about the news out of Florida.
This was originally started as a reply to civiltwilight but was misplaced.
“This was originally started as a reply to civiltwilight but was misplaced.“
It’s for the best. I was going to reply too but really it’s just a troll and best ignored.
Can, May, and Should are still not synonymous.
Still enjoying the early days of the AI future?
“But Mommm! the other candidate got to too!” …
So far, DeSantis is proving to be every bit as abhorrent as I expected.
"DeSantis was supposed to be the 'competent Trump'"
When in doubt, follow the leader !
I don't have a problem with this. DeeSatan wants to portray trump as friendly with the good doctor. He could write it as a tweet or he can put it in video. Is there a difference between "Trump and Fauci were in cahoots to oppress us with lockdowns and mandatory covid vaccinations" and these pics? Not really.
Is one more effective than the other? Not for me. It's an editorial cartoon.
"Is there a difference between 'Trump and Fauci were in cahoots to oppress us with lockdowns and mandatory covid vaccinations' and these pics? Not really."
Of course there is, you fool. The statement is readily and automatically recognized as an opinion of whomever it is that said it. The photos present as documentary _evidence_. It's the difference between saying a thing about a person ("Trump is corrupt as hell!") and falsely attributing a quote demonstrating the thing ("Former president Donald Trump was recently caught on a hot mike stating 'I am bigly corrupt as hell' while interrupting a wedding at his Mara Lago club, according to AP").
"Is one more effective than the other? Not for me. It's an editorial cartoon."
I'm sure you recognized that the photos were fakes the moment Drum used the phrase "fake AI images" but I'm also sure you'd agree that even without the tag, it's much easier to tell an editorial cartoon from a photo because the one is a cartoon and the other isn't.
So you say. I assume every campaign ad is bullshit. Written, pics, or video.
I think everything you write is bullshit. I’m sure you think the same of me.
"I assume every campaign ad is bullshit. Written, pics, or video."
That's undoubtedly untrue, but even if you *were* some sort of bizarrely fundamentalist existential nihilist who somehow sees zero information content in the media he observes (while oddly simultaneously holding opinions of it), essentially none of your other fellow humans are that way. The point of a campaign ad isn't to influence YOU, Justin, per se, but to influence some number of other people. So even if the answer to the question you ask "Is one more effective than the other?" is "no" for you personally, that really is completely unimportant. The issue is that the answer is "yes" for most everybody else.
But - it was a lazy tactical error because the fake pictures fired up the Maga base, who think much more of Trump than they ought to.
DeSantis is more disciplined and intelligent than Trump. He is also, I think, a true believer and by all evidence, without compassion for anyone other than the poor put upon white working class who believe exactly as he does. Or at least that is his cynical front.
My biggest fear is that Desantis' billionaire friends buy Trump off with big $ and promises of pardons. Desantis against Biden would be very, very bad. Our only hope might then be Trump's ego. Irony!
desantis only cares about the "poor put upon white work class" to the extent that they vote for him.
"Desantis against Biden would be very, very bad."
For DeSantis, yes. DeSantis has the demonstrated personal appeal of a colonoscopy.
I hope you are right.
What shocking scene did Ron's kids witness on Christmas Eve?
Momma kissing DeSantiClaus.
(づ￣ ³￣)づ ლ(´ڡ`ლ)
What's really funny to me is that I think the first image of Trump kissing Fauci was rendered using the video/images of Trump kissing an American flag. It actually looks more like a bad photoshop than anything AI generated, although I suppose AI can learn to "make" bad photoshops.
following the trump playbook isn't dumb. it's gross and unethical and abhorrent, but so are most gop primary voters. that's how trump ended up as president.
Hackers claim to have destroyed an ISP that is a key part of Russia's banking system,
https://cybernews.com/cyber-war/infotel-hack-impacts-russian-banks/