Did someone finally notice that Trump's raised fist has six fingers in the famous image from the aftermath of the Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt -- indicating the image is a fake generated by AI? No, that's not true: This image is altered from the original news photo. The post pretending to expose an AI deception was made 40 days after the assassination attempt, and comments from the original poster show that his intention was to troll conservatives. The iconic photo by Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci is one in a series of images captured after Trump's ear was grazed during the shooting and before he was rushed offstage. Details of Vucci's photos align with photos and video taken by other photographers at the same time in front of thousands of witnesses attending the rally.
The altered image appears in a post (archived here) published on X by @slothropsmap on August 23, 2024. The post is captioned:
Six fingers. AI-generated.
(Image source: X screenshot taken on Mon Aug 26 17:48:11 2024 UTC)
This post by @slothropsmap includes an August 22, 2024, post by @TrumpWarRoom (archived here), which features the original unedited image by Evan Vucci. The screenshot of the post, pictured above, features both the edited picture with Trump's fist circled in red (top), and the original photo (bottom).
In one of several snarky exchanges under the post someone wrote (archived here), "And I bet people will fall for this," to which @slothropsmap (pictured below) replied (archived here):
Literally all conservatives yes
(Image source: X screenshot taken on Mon Aug 26 20:33:01 2024 UTC)
The Lead Stories comparison image below shows the area of the image where the editing occurred. Using Adobe Photoshop, the edited image posted by @slothropsmap and original image were matched as transparent layers. The area that differs shows up outside the margin of the original hand. This edit could have been achieved with digital tools, and it is unlikely that any AI tools were required. The middle finger of Trump's hand was duplicated and his thumb and index finger were rotated slightly to the right to make room for the fake extra finger.
(Image source: Lead Stories composite image with X screenshots taken on Mon Aug 26 20:06:09 2024 UTC)
On July 19, 2024, Suzanne Kianpour conducted a remote interview with photographer Evan Vucci which was streamed live on Instagram. They discussed his experience at the July 13, 2024, rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and what he thinks about his photograph being subjected to editing and conspiracy theories. This interview predates the recent @slothropsmap edit to Vucci's photo. At about 4:48 minutes in, Vucci emphasized:
I try to document what's in front of my lens. I do that to the best of my ability and what happens after the fact isn't really much of my concern, but I will say this -- We are more vital than ever. News organizations that you can trust are more vital than ever... With AI and deepfakes and everything else, people need to trust us, so I did my part to accurately portray what happens, and as far as what happens afterward I can't control that ...
At about 6:00 minutes in, the AP photographer explains that his Sony camera is connected to a MiFi (a portable router), which instantly sends his photos from his camera where he is working on location to the desk of an editor at The Associated Press. This explains how a photo of the immediate aftermath of a shooting at 6:11 p.m., taken by a photographer who was still on site after the crowds were cleared, could appear in a breaking news report from CNN at 7:32 p.m.
The August 5, 2023 Time Magazine has an interview with Vucci and his iconic photo appears on the cover.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims about photos from the Butler rally can be found here.
