Republican leaders are under fire for sharing an AI-generated image masquerading as a photo of a U.S. airman reacting right after he was rescued in Iran.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and New York Rep. Mike Lawler have been widely mocked after falling for the fake image over the weekend.
On Friday, a U.S. F-15 was shot down over Iran, sparking a major military rescue operation to find the two service members who managed to eject from the aircraft.
While the pilot was quickly rescued, it was only confirmed by Donald Trump that the second crew member had been found in the Iranian mountains by U.S. commandos on Sunday. Trump added on Truth Social that the “highly respected Colonel” had been “seriously wounded” and that further details would be given at the Oval Office later on Monday.
On Sunday, a pro-Trump X account shared an AI-generated image purporting to show the rescued service member, whose identity has not been officially released, surrounded by smiling military members, with an American flag draped across his lap.
The fake image has since been reshared more than 21,000 times on the social media platform, including by elected GOP officials.
“This is so awesome,” Abbott wrote to his 1.4 million X followers in a since-deleted post.
Paxton, a Texas Senate hopeful, was quick to share the AI-generated image without bothering to check its authenticity. “Shot down on Good Friday… rescued on Easter morning. God is sending a message to our enemies!” Paxton wrote while sharing the image.
Lawler also shared the image with his X followers, adding the caption: “God Bless America!”
A number of social media users ridiculed the Republicans for posting misleading information about the rescued crew member to their followers.
“Maybe when you are a member of Congress, you should try to make sure you aren’t posting AI slop from a BS right-wing influencer,” MeidasTouch editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski wrote while sharing a screenshot of Lawler’s post.
While reposting Abbott’s error, Reason magazine reporter Billy Binion wrote: “This kind of stuff is bleak. I get that we’re in a new era, but we desperately need a new crash course in media literacy, or just a reminder to be remotely discerning. The governor of Texas should not be sharing an obviously fake photo from a slop account.”
What’s more embarrassing for Abbott is that this isn’t the first time he has been duped by fake content online during the war in Iran.
Last month, the Texas governor shared what he believed was genuine footage of an Iranian plane being shot down by a U.S. warship. The clip was actually taken from the WWII video game War Thunder.
The Daily Beast has contacted Abbott, Paxton, and Lawler for comment.
