There has been no shortage of gut-wrenching photographs from communities in the southeast devastated by Hurricane Helene, which caused extreme flooding and killed at least 215 people — pictures of houses destroyed, families trapped on rooftops, wreckage from mudslides and roads washed out by torrential rains. But rather than focus on the actual victims or damage, many right-wing influencers and politicians have extended their sympathies to a nonexistent girl and her puppy (who is also not real).
The AI-generated image they’re sharing depicts a crying girl in a boat, seemingly alone except for the little dog she’s clutching. She wears a lifejacket and appears to be adrift on floodwaters caused by a major storm. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah posted the picture on X on Thursday, writing “Caption this photo,” apparently inviting his followers to vent their outrage at the Biden-Harris administration for allowing American children to suffer such misery on their watch. After users pointed out that he’d fallen for AI slop, he deleted the picture. (The image originated on the Trump web forum Patriots.win, where several users immediately recognized it as the product of an AI model.)
Others, however, have left the misleading picture up on their social media accounts — and some are defending it as an accurate representation of Helene’s effects even though it’s fake. Far-right conspiracy theorist and Donald Trump associate Laura Loomer called the image “sad,” quote-tweeting a post from Buzz Patterson, columnist for the conservative blog RedState, who wrote of the picture: “Our government has failed us again.” Neither have taken their posts down as of press time. Amy Kremer, RNC National Committeewoman for the Georgia GOP and co-founder of Women for Trump, tweeted on Thursday that the image had been “seared into my mind.”
Informed that she was not looking at an authentic photo, Kremer doubled down. “Y’all, I don’t know where this photo came from and honestly, it doesn’t matter,” she replied. “There are people going through much worse than what is shown in this pic. So I’m leaving it because it is emblematic of the trauma and pain people are living through right now.” A large anonymous blue-check account on X that routinely attacks Democrats did remove the picture but similarly argued: “Even though that image was AI, it spoke a truth about the disregard Harris and Biden have for ordinary Americans, as evidenced by their criminal non-response to Helene.” Another X user posted a screenshot of a more succinct response from an apparent family member advised that the image was bogus. “Who cares,” they answered.
The little girl and her puppy — there are AI-generated variants of the more viral image floating around as well — have been widely presented by MAGA world as evidence of a failed disaster response in the aftermath of Helene. Trump himself is pushing lies about the U.S. government not being able to fund relief efforts, adding an overtone of racism with the groundless claim that the White House “stole” money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and “spent it all on illegal migrants.” (The irony being that in 2019, the Trump administration itself redirected millions in disaster funds, during hurricane season, to pay for detention centers at the border.)
FEMA has said in a statement that it does have enough money for “immediate response and recovery needs.” Yet the supposed scandal has Republicans outraged at the idea that Americans impacted by the hurricane are being denied help because Democrats funneled resources to immigrants. “So Kamala doesn’t have enough money for this child?” fumed a MAGA-affiliated X user who shared the AI-generated girl. “For Americans that lost everything they have? I can’t hate this administration enough.”
The barrage of AI junk from Trump supporters follows a similar trend last month, when the former president, his running mate Sen. J.D. Vance, and their various allies were smearing the Haitian immigrant community of Springfield, Ohio, by falsely accusing them of stealing and eating local house pets. During that news cycle, many used AI to generate cartoonish images of cats and dogs wearing MAGA hats, and Trump himself holding or protecting animals. Before that, Trump shared AI imagery that made it appear as if he had the backing of Taylor Swift and her fan army. (Swift endorsed Vice President Harris immediately after Harris’ September debate with Trump.) Along with the phony “victim” images to come out of the Helene disaster, there were also AI pictures of Trump braving floodwaters to assist residents and rescue babies.
What other uncanny-valley creations will online Trump boosters bring to the fore of the American imagination in the closing weeks of this chaotic campaign? Hard to say, but one thing is certain: the AI assault remains a core piece of their strategy.