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.
) Based Senator Mike Lee deleted this. Because someone told him this viral MAGA photo is AI and not Kamala abandoning kids and puppies. pic.
twitter.com/DhXZB9j9k6 Others, however, have left the misleading picture up on their social media accounts — and some are defending it as an accurate representati.