Fake images and videos generated by artificial intelligence, depicting Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in the company of underage girls, are spreading like wildfire on social media.

The content, entirely crafted using AI tools, has racked up millions of views as Trump attempts to publicly distance himself from his long-standing friendship with Epstein, which spanned more than 15 years and was documented in numerous photos from social events dating back to 2004.

One of the most widely shared videos shows Trump and Epstein seemingly watching a group of girls dance to Sade’s “Is it a Crime?” Other images show them sitting on a couch with young girls or dancing on Epstein’s private island, accompanied by captions such as: “Trump was over 50 when this photo was taken. Who the hell does this?”

According to a conservative estimate by disinformation watchdog NewsGuard, at least seven such images and one video have generated more than 7.2 million views on platforms like TikTok, X, and YouTube. Using tools like Hive and IdentifAI, experts determined that the content was fake and created by AI. In reality, the actual number of views is likely much higher, with many users spreading the material in the belief that it was authentic.

The spread of deepfakes is intensifying amid public discontent among Trump supporters after a July 7 memo from the FBI and the Justice Department said there was no evidence of Epstein’s so-called “client list.” That frustrated some in the Make America Great Again movement, which has been pushing for years for the public to declassify the files. The Trump administration has refused to release the files, further fueling conspiracy theories.

The emergence of fake images fills this gap in the public sphere, where facts often give way to striking visual manipulations. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s name was among hundreds identified in an official review of Epstein case files, although no evidence of specific crimes has been presented so far. Shortly after the publication, Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the publication, accusing it of defamation for allegedly sending a sexually provocative letter to Epstein in 2003 on his birthday.

The growing wave of deepfakes, combined with political tensions and lax moderation controls on social media, is further blurring the line between fact and fiction in an election context where artificial intelligence is already shaping the public narrative. | BGNES