In a vicious commercial against competitor Donald Trump, the campaign supporting Ron DeSantis for president in 2024 employed what experts have identified as AI-generated deepfakes.

The “DeSantis War Room” tweeted out a clip on June 5th, highlighting Trump’s endorsement of Anthony Fauci, who was previously the chief medical advisor to the White House and a significant player in the US’ reaction to COVID-19.

Fauci gained a bad reputation in right-wing politics, especially in the anti-vaccine movement. This latest ad for DeSantis tries to broaden this base of support by depicting Trump and Fauci as close allies.

The video has six photos of the two men interacting as a collage, as well as actual recordings of Trump talking about Fauci.

The real photographs in the collage are clearly identifiable. AFP was the first to identify the counterfeits. Reverse search results for the three false photos return nothing and there are other indications that point to AI generation.

These red flags include physically unnatural stances, glossy and fuzzy textures (especially in the two men’s hair and skin), and an improper representation of the White House media conference room and its furnishings.

For instance, one can see a replica of the signage that reads “The White House, Washington” in the real world in the top-left image.

This is the sign which hangs behind the press conference podium. This image shows the sign in question.

Contrast this with the placard shown in the top-left image of the DeSantis campaign advertisement. The language is absurd, and the blue coloration is unusual.

For present AI picture generating systems, recreating readable text is a difficulty.

If you enlarge the photo, you are able to observe how Trump and Fauci’s features are awkwardly aligned and nearly overlap each other, as well as how Trump’s hair is strangely smooth and featureless.