‘This should be illegal…’: An outrageous MAGA deepfake is causing extreme backlash
Outrage has erupted on X after a MAGA social media account posted a video with a deepfake of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. supporting Donald Trump. The video was posted just a day before the election is announced, in what many call a “vile” attempt to sway Black voters.
The Trump-supporting account @MAGAResource posted the “deepfake” at 10:11 am on Nov. 4, the post has since been taken down. The account’s caption of the video read, “Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream and if he could speak today…..” The video runs for just under three minutes and uses deepfake technology to recreate the iconic baritone of MLK Jr.’s voice that praises Trumpian/MAGA values.
“We’ve been told again and again that we cannot vote for the man that did more for the Black community than any other president,” the AI-generated voice begins, “If a Black man dares speak out in support of Donald Trump, a Democrat is always there to call that man an Uncle Tom, a house negro or even worse.” The advert goes on to allege that it is the Democrats that have failed Black Americans and said that they have prioritized illegal immigrants over Black communities. Ah yes, that good old scapegoat.
The crescendo of the video ends with the generated voice stating, “We will vote for Donald Trump as our president, and we will fight beside him to make America great again. We will not allow the American dream to die.” MKL Jr. was assassinated in 1968, so of course, there is literally no way this could have ever been him. Beyond this fact, the idea that the political activist would have promoted Trump and his policies is absurd.
The backlash has been fierce
Many on social media are, of course, not fooled in the least and expressed disgust at the video’s manipulation of the great activist’s likeness and voice. One user writes, “this should be illegal,” while many of the comments under the video include words such as “shameful,” “disgusting,” and “vile.”
The latter word was also used by MLK Jr.’s daughter, Bernice King, who was appalled to see her father’s likeness used in such a way. King called out the post on X writing, “Delete this, @MAGAResource. It’s vile, fake, irresponsible, and not at all reflective of what my father would say. And you gave no thought to our family.”
Though this is not an official MAGA or Trump account, it’s not the first time that MLK Jr. has been dragged into Trump’s political career. In early August, Trump boasted about his rally crowds being bigger than MLK Jr.’s 1963 civil rights march rally at the Lincoln Memorial where he delivered the iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. Trump also compared Mark Robinson, North Carolina’s potential first Black governor, to the political activist saying he’s “Martin Luther King (Jr.) on steroids.” Speaking with USA TODAY on that issue, MLK Jr’s.’ son, Martin Luther King III, said,
“It’s important, I think, from my perspective, that if my father is ever used, that I have to say, ‘No, … this is not what my father represented.’ And I just want people to know that that’s an untruth, because so many people, for whatever reason, listen to the former president.”
Many members of the King family, including MLK III, have openly shown support for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
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