bob oswald
Unfortunately, natural disasters tend to be riddled with misinformation. Some of the post-Hurricane Helen fake news actually came from former President Donald Trump.
“Well, for one thing, $1 billion was stolen from FEMA to be used for illegal immigration. And FEMA is now destroyed,” President Trump said on Oct. 4 of the storm damage situation. He spoke during a visit to Augusta, Georgia, to investigate. “FEMA is not doing its job, which means the federal government, Kamala and Joe, are clearly not doing their job.”
According to PolitiFact, FEMA’s claims are false. Trump used false statements to attack his presidential opponent, Kamala Harris. He shared similar claims during his stops in Michigan and North Carolina.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) programs for immigrants do not require funds designated for disasters. The Disaster Relief Fund and the organization’s immigration programs are funded separately by Congress, not the president.
FEMA addressed this claim on its rumor response website.
“Funds are not being diverted to disaster response needs,” the agency said in an Oct. 3 post. “FEMA’s disaster response operations and individual assistance are funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, a fund dedicated to disaster operations.”
According to PolitiFact, FEMA is not short on funds. This information comes from a statement from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. After visiting South Carolina on Oct. 2 to inspect storm damage, Mayorkas said, “We are meeting immediate needs with the resources we have…FEMA does not have the money to get us through (hurricane) season.” ” he said.
FEMA will face a deficit this year, but Congress has approved additional funding to the relief fund every year since 2017. And the latest stopgap bill added $20 million to the disaster relief fund to fund the government through Dec. 20.
Photo of Trump walking in water is fake
Former President Donald Trump visited areas affected by Hurricane Helen and spoke with residents, but not all reports about his visit are accurate.
“I don’t think FB wants this photo on FB. They are deleting it,” the text of the Sept. 30 Facebook post reads, including includes a photo of Trump and another man wearing orange life vests walking through floodwaters, which was identified in comments as coming from Valdosta, Georgia.
However, according to USA Today, there is no evidence that this actually happened. The photo was created using artificial intelligence (AI).
Walter Shirer, a professor at the University of Notre Dame’s School of Engineering, told USA TODAY that the photo is “the product of a generative AI algorithm.”
“One of the key pieces of evidence is that both men’s clothing appeared to be dry,” Shirer said. “If they had been walking through water, they would have been drenched. You can see the effects of that in the actual photos of the hurricane.”
A comment on the post explained why Facebook was removing the post.
“It probably would have been removed because it was AI-generated, but if it actually happened, every media outlet in the country would cover this,” one commenter wrote.
Vikings didn’t blame Walz
In recent social media posts, National Football League teams appear to be taking political stances.
“Minnesota Vikings condemn Tim Walz: ‘We do not support his values,'” the headline read, along with a photo of Vikings players and Minnesota Gov. Walz.
However, Reuters says there is no evidence that this is genuine. There are no similar comments on the team’s website or social media accounts, and there are no other reports that the Vikings have issued this type of statement.
The headline matches one published in a Dunning-Kruger Times article published by a subsidiary of the satirical website America’s Last Line of Defense.
Aniston’s video is a deepfake
A recent video that has gone viral on social media shows actress Jennifer Aniston chatting with actress Nicole Kidman about her fitness and fat-burning habits.
In the clip, Aniston, 55, is seen talking about maintaining her “bikini body” in her 50s.
However, according to US WEEKLY, this conversation never actually took place. This video is a deepfake scam, created by dubbing a video of a real event with a new audio.
The video was created to sell collagen supplements and features a fake Aniston explaining “why my body doesn’t gain fat.”
The original video used to create the deepfake shows Aniston in a roundtable discussion with The Hollywood Reporter discussing acting with Kidman, Naomi Watts, and Sofia Vergara.
• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Please contact us at boboswald33@gmail.com.
