Speculation that ‘stroke signs’ may explain alleged Trump ‘AI video’ miss the point

On 11 September, we reported on a White House video in which Donald Trump seemed to launch a ‘war on the left’. In that same article, we noted some believed the video of Trump showed signs of AI or digital alteration. Later that same day, pictures emerged of Trump at a 9/11 memorial in which he appeared to be suffering from ill health effects:

so this guy like 100% had a stroke right pic.twitter.com/KzWMxaAPap

— Jeremy Kaplowitz (@jeremysmiles) September 11, 2025

Things became increasingly confused when a Sky News video from the same day featured Trump without any pronounced facial drooping.

We’re not sure quite what’s going on at this point, but we are sure of one thing; Trump released a video in which he used spurious claims and slander to argue for a crackdown on the left.

trump is signaling that he’s going to use charlie kirks death to launch a war against left and liberal organizing https://t.co/9AVAEH0X4P

— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) September 11, 2025

ChAIn of events

Let’s be clear about one thing: Trump’s White House address video did not look unedited:

Issues with it include:

• The lighting and colouring seem off.
• Trump moves in an odd fashion.
• There’s a sudden skip at one point.

Do this mean it’s AI? Not necessarily.

The colouring could be high contrast by design; Trump’s odd movement could be explained by a low frame rate; the skip could just be an edit. It could also be the case that AI is being used to smooth things out and make Trump look different but it’s a filter rather than a full recreation.

Compare this comment:

Trump’s fingers magically morph away in yesterday’s Oval Office address to the nation. pic.twitter.com/s2zdvUKKzK

— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) September 11, 2025

To this one:

Some people claim this Trump statement is AI, but this is likely the morph cut feature in Premiere, which blends together an edit.

My guess is they're trying to hide the large bruise on his right hand. That left hand basically doesn't budge the rest of the video. pic.twitter.com/Y5p85uKFgz

— Kirby Ferguson (@remixeverything) September 11, 2025

We can also report that regardless of what’s going on, it’s not the first White House address to have the same visual hallmarks. The following videos are from two days ago, Wednesday 10 September:

Looking through the other videos that the White House has posted to YouTube, we can’t find instances of them using this same setup. So they’re definitely doing something new; it’s just not clear precisely what’s changed.

What is clear, though, is that Trump and others are using Charlie Kirk’s death as an opportunity to spread disinformation and further clamp down on their political enemies:

“To have [Trump] as a partisan in these battles, saying this is the radical left and ignoring the political violence that has come from his own side…that is why people are worried.”

Guardian Columnist Jonathan Freedland on the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/xPpIltLCo6

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) September 11, 2025

76% of extremist-related killings in the last decade have been committed by right-wingers. 4% by leftists.

Trump, Musk and co are trying to paint political violence as just a left issue. It’s not even close to true. pic.twitter.com/gzv1nV3n1A

— Tom Larkin (@TomLarkinObs) September 11, 2025

From me, a list of Trump supporters who killed, or tried to kill, Democrats and opponents of Trump in recent years (since the right are now claiming all the political violence is from the left!)

Receipts:https://t.co/YbS3A8fz5p pic.twitter.com/3b4X09NX6C

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) September 11, 2025

Trump’s health

Speculation about the video being AI went into hyperdrive after Trump appeared with an obviously drooping face:

Being very serious right now…is Trump literally having a stroke at this 9/11 memorial? pic.twitter.com/5i2AMJ9aWs

— Holly Figueroa O’Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) September 11, 2025

As noted, Trump later appeared looking considerably different. This is becoming something of a pattern now.

As Al Jazeera noted, people recently believed Trump to be dead after he showed several signs of failing health and then disappeared for several days. As they noted:

Although Trump had no public meetings, his schedule was not suspended as some users claimed. The White House continued to publicly release and chronicle meetings and actions.

But some on social media persisted. They pointed to photos of Trump’s swollen ankles and bruised hands, and a July letter from his doctor diagnosing Trump with chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition that can cause leg swelling. It is not typically life-threatening.

Given that Trump keeps returning looking mostly as he has done in the past, the question must be asked: is Trump experiencing unusual health issues? Or is he simply experiencing the regular amount of poor health you’d expect from a 79-year-old man who lives off fast food and works in a high-stress job?

Again, it’s not entirely clear, but these are the sort of questions which emerge when the most powerful country in the world repeatedly elects septuagenarian presidents.

One thing that is clear, though, is that Trump is still the guy in charge, and he’s still spewing the same hypocrisy as ever:

Charlie Kirk has exposed the UTTER HYPOCRISY of right-wingers on Free Speech.

Trump, Farage and Boris Johnson have all used political violence and censorship when it suited them. pic.twitter.com/uf5gdhALCi

— Femi (@Femi_Sorry) September 12, 2025

It’s crazy how Donald Trump wasn’t responsible for Jan 6th but Democrats are supposed to be responsible about what happened to Charlie Kirk

— Tim Hannan (@TimHannan) September 11, 2025

Oh, and this is his son by the way:

In light of today’s shooting death of Charlie Kirk, it’s worth remembering that while Paul Pelosi was lying in the ICU with a fractured skull, vile ghouls like Don Jr. thought it was comedy content. These people don’t just enable violence – they celebrate it. pic.twitter.com/BjGLFof1U1

— Canada Hates Trump (@AntiTrumpCanada) September 10, 2025

And these are his followers:

Deeply disturbing rhetoric is spreading from influential MAGA figures (including the President of the United States and the owner of this website). They have no idea who the shooter is, and many of these same people mocked Democrats when they were victims of political violence in… pic.twitter.com/nWQYBV25Ok

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) September 11, 2025

This exchange, meanwhile, completely gives the game away:

The Reichstag fire was used by the Nazis to destroy all that remained of democracy, begin the liquidation of the left and legal persecution of the Jews.

We don’t know who assassinated Charlie Kirk, but the Trumpian far right believe they have a perfect opportunity. pic.twitter.com/D7bqIajkac

— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) September 11, 2025

Distraction tactics

There’s so much going on at once these days that it’s easy to become distracted. No one is better at distracting people than Trump, because everything around him seems chaotic and fraudulent. While suspected AI / health concerns are definitely worth commenting on, in this instance the key thing to watch are the political moves being made to capitalise on Charlie Kirk’s death.

Featured image via C-Span