With AI memes, Trump promotes mythical version of himself as challenges stack up ahead of midterms
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the real world, President Donald Trump is struggling to stop inflation, rout the Iranian government and restore American manufacturing with tariffs.
However, it’s a different story in the fantastical vision that he shares with supporters on social media. Over Labor Day weekend, Trump and the White House unleashed an extraordinarily heavy torrent of memes that portrayed the president as singularly powerful.
One video depicted Trump as a superhero wielding Green Lantern’s ring to effortlessly build a wall to keep out migrants and erect a slew of busy factories. Another post showed him in a U.S. hockey uniform looming over Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as Carney cowered on the ice. And another had Trump on a military ship as it bombarded an enemy fleet.
Trump’s allure has always relied on a mythical version of himself...Most U.S. adults are unhappy with Trump’s handling of the economy and say the Iran war hasn’t been worth it, but Trump has responded with outlandish images of himself as unstoppable and omnipotent.
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Recently [his staff] created a series of old-school video games, such as a “Tetris” knockoff called “Build the Wall.”
Aging presidents promote vitality online
[Biden's] White House came to embrace a meme version of Biden with lasers for eyes, suggesting that he was powerful and focused rather than infirm.
[Andrew Bates, Biden deputy press secretary] said [the memes] risk angering voters who see Trump as more focused on redecorating the White House than bringing the Iran war to a successful end.
[In fact, 70% of his mindshare is on redecorating and self-monuments.]
Some memes have caused trouble
The memes have occasionally gotten Trump into trouble. He posted an image of himself as Jesus in April, which caused a degree of consternation among some supporters. The president later claimed he thought the image showed him as a medical doctor — albeit a doctor in Biblical robes with light emanating from his hands.
Last October, Trump shared a video of him in a fighter jet dumping feces on Americans who were protesting his policies.
