Viral Photo of Donald Trump Posing With a Group Of Black Women In Formal Dresses Is Fact-Checked

A Facebook post claiming to show a genuine photo of former President Donald Trump surrounded by a group of Black women in formal attire has gone viral.

According to a report by USA Today on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, the post features a screenshot of a picture shared on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In the image, former President Donald Trump is seen posing with a group of Black women dressed in formal attire.

The caption accompanying the image suggests that Black women are supporting Trump in a sophisticated manner and criticizes the left for disliking “classy women.”

“They are afraid of black women supporting Trump because when we do, we drop the hoodrat act, and the left hates classy women!” the text above the image reads.

This Facebook post quickly went viral, being shared more than 800 times within just three days.

However, the image is not what it appears to be. A thorough fact-check reveals that the photo is a fabrication, created using artificial intelligence (AI).

The creator of the image, Sharika Soal, confirmed to USA TODAY that the picture is AI-generated.

Soal, who is a writer and content creator for The Gateway Pundit, created the image with the intention of illustrating “modestly dressed, classy Black women supporting Trump.”

She expressed frustration over the confusion the image caused, noting that many people failed to recognize it as digital art and assumed it was a real photograph.

Soal wrote in an email to USA TODAY, “I am a Black woman and my intention was to show people an ILLUSTRATION of modestly dressed, classy Black women supporting Trump.”

“People lost their minds and are now pretending I didn’t make the photo and that they can’t discern by simply looking at the photo to see it is aII digital art or simply scroll my page and see that I am an AI digital creator.”

Experts in digital imagery have pointed out several telltale signs that the image is not real. Britt Paris, an assistant professor of library and information science at Rutgers University, explained that the photo displays typical characteristics of AI-generated content.

One major clue is the “sheen and smoothness” often seen in such images. Paris also noted a peculiar detail: Trump’s hair appears unnaturally merged with the hair of the women around him.

This could be a result of AI manipulation or a sign of poor photo-editing techniques.

Another significant issue with the image is the depiction of hands.

Many of the women’s hands in the photo are shown with extra or blurry fingers, which is a common flaw in AI-generated imagery.

Additionally, the hands are positioned in unnatural ways, either overlapping awkwardly or seeming out of place on Trump’s shoulders.

“Most glaringly, Donald Trump has hair – like the hair of the other women around him – seemingly coming out of the nape of his neck, as if he’s superimposed onto another woman in a picture taken in real life; or, more likely, it is an artifact of AI manipulation in Photoshop, or even a less sophisticated generative AI application,” Britt Paris said.

This is not the first time AI-generated images involving Trump have circulated. USA TODAY has previously debunked several similar images.

One such image falsely showed Trump at a cookout with Black supporters.

Another depicted him being taken into police custody following his May conviction. There was also an image that misleadingly portrayed Trump leading a large crowd down a street.