President Donald Trump is facing heat after posting an AI image of himself in a military uniform he never wore in reality, decorated with medals he never earned.
What’s more, the same image shows him standing between two U.S. military icons ― supposedly Gen. George S. Patton and Gen. Douglas MacArthur, although their artificial-intelligence-generated renditions aren’t very accurate ― both of whom are shown with a lower rank and fewer decorations than Trump:
Trump has long fantasized about himself as a military figure and often posts AI images of himself in various roles.
Earlier this week, he posted an image of himself in uniform as a military leader during the Revolutionary War:
He’s even mused aloud ― more than once ― about bestowing himself with the Medal of Honor, which is the nation’s highest military honor.
But Trump, who attended a private military academy as a teen, has never served in the armed forces. During the Vietnam War, he managed to dodge the draft with five deferments: four for college, and one for bone spurs in his heels.
He later told radio host Howard Stern that avoiding sexually transmitted diseases was “my personal Vietnam.”
But Trump’s latest image goes further than most of his AI slop. It not only depicts him in a uniform he never wore, with medals he never earned, but also shows two legitimate military legends ― and depicts them with a lower rank than Trump.
In the pic, Trump shows himself as a four-star general. Patton and MacArthur, by contrast, are each shown as two-star generals.
In reality, Patton had four stars and MacArthur was one of just nine to attain the rank of five-star general.
Given all that, the image struck a nerve with the president’s critics ― with some even accusing the president of “stolen valor”: