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Some high-powered Republicans were fooled by phony AI image of the rescued US airman [View all]
From The Guardian (you won't see or hear this in the US press).
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/06/republicans-ai-image-us-plane-member-rescue-iran
Republicans fooled by AI-generated image of US airman rescued in Iran
Fake image of crew member surrounded by smiling military members has been reshared more than 21,000 times on X
Republican politicians were hoaxed over the weekend by an image purporting to be a downed US warplane crew member rescued by military special forces in Iran on Saturday, igniting a call for a national “crash course in media literacy”.
Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general and a US Senate candidate, and Mike Lawler, a New York representative, were all caught out for “liking” a fake picture of the airman, who has not been publicly identified.
. . .
“This is so awesome,” Abbott wrote to his 1.4 million X followers in a since-deleted post. Alluding to how the rescue operation began and ended, respectively, on Friday and Sunday of Easter weekend, the governor added: “God is sending a message to our enemies!”
Lawler also shared the picture, adding the caption: “God Bless America!”
Fake image of crew member surrounded by smiling military members has been reshared more than 21,000 times on X
Republican politicians were hoaxed over the weekend by an image purporting to be a downed US warplane crew member rescued by military special forces in Iran on Saturday, igniting a call for a national “crash course in media literacy”.
Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general and a US Senate candidate, and Mike Lawler, a New York representative, were all caught out for “liking” a fake picture of the airman, who has not been publicly identified.
. . .
“This is so awesome,” Abbott wrote to his 1.4 million X followers in a since-deleted post. Alluding to how the rescue operation began and ended, respectively, on Friday and Sunday of Easter weekend, the governor added: “God is sending a message to our enemies!”
Lawler also shared the picture, adding the caption: “God Bless America!”
6 replies
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