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You Can’t Pronounce “Antichrist” Without “AI”
Of all the things with which the alliance of the religious right would have been broken donald trumpit would like Be it posting an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus Christ, healing the sick and surrounded by heavenly angels – just hours after the attack Pope Leo XIVNot less. (As a conservative commentator rod dreherwho participated JD Vance’s Catholic baptism, explained wall street journal: “I’m not saying Trump is the Antichrist. But he is channeling the spirit of the Antichrist, there’s no question about that.”) This time, it wasn’t the White House memelord army that originated it. Trump acknowledged to reporters Monday while accepting a DoorDash delivery that he had posted the image on Truth Social. “I thought it was me as the doctor,” he said.
But X user S2_Underground discovered something interesting: The image posted by Trump wasn’t exactly new. A version of the AI-generated image was initially posted by an influencer named MAGA nick adams in February, but by the time it reached Trump’s feed, several strange changes had occurred. The most notable, which went viral, was that a soldier floating in the clouds was transformed into a faceless, pointy-headed winged creature, which social media users immediately identified as a monster. But there are many more subtle changes, too: Trump’s flag has more stars than Adams’ flag, fighter planes look slightly off, buildings in the background look blurry, and everyone’s faces, including Trump’s, look scarier and less benevolent. Also, a man’s “experienced” hat turned into my co-worker. Owen Grove It has been described as “a ‘hat’ hat”.
So what happened between Adams’ post and Trump’s post? The memorandumists remained silent as usual. But it’s well known that Trump always has the final say over what ends up on his social media feeds, and the history of his presidency is replete with examples of his advisers being unable to stop Trump from posting or reposting things that come before him personally. Although the post has been removed (rare!), it appears someone in the White House may be trying to stop Trump from posting More Scandalous images are failing to do that: On Wednesday morning, Trump posted another AI-generated image from a follower that showed him and Jesus embracing in front of an American flag. “Radical leftist lunatics won’t like this,” he wrote, “but I think it’s pretty cool!!!”
DC’s hottest WHCD collabs are…
Here’s an awesome DC political journalism insider secret I’ve learned over the years: You can gauge the health of a media company by the scale of its White House correspondents’ dinner-week schedule. If it is given the status of ambassadors’ residence for one year, but is changed to “private receptions” the next year, this is a sign. If it has partnered with another outlet, they are likely pooling resources. If he’s co-hosting it with a tech company — which is an increasingly popular option — there’s probably a tacit agreement that the tech company is footing the bill.
Here are some of my favorite media/tech collaborations I’ve heard about this cycle:
- On Thursday, YouTube, a very wealthy subsidiary of Google, and CSPAN, the public television station currently facing a financial crisis due to the rise of streaming services in cable profits, are jointly hosting a reception at Meridian House, a magnificent neoclassical mansion owned by the Meridian International Center. (For context, Meridian House is a DC social climber’s dream wedding venue.)
- washingtonian The magazine, a social publication that has long grappled with the same budget problems that plague local media, is hosting its annual glittering Four Seasons shindig with the embassy of Qatar, the petrostate with the highest GDP per capita. (Any Have to pay for free top-shelf whiskey.)
- The Beehive, an upstart newsletter company and Substack competitor, is hosting a Friday reception at the Shinola store on 14th Street. Yes, beverages belong next to watches and notebooks.
- Pubkey, the Bitcoin-themed dive bar that is also home to the Bitcoin Policy Institute, will host the Creative Coalition’s “WriteToBearArts” annual gala fundraiser. Celebrity hosts include Michael Chiklis and Zachary Levi, and tickets start at $1,000.
- Not a tech company, but still an eyebrow-raising one: America250 has added its name to the Motion Picture Association’s annual Friday party, according to the invitation I saw. Established by an act of Congress long before Trump entered politics, America250 was supposed to be a nonpartisan nonprofit funding America’s 250th anniversary this year, but it has become one of many nonprofits used by corporate donors to lobby for a second Trump administration. Last year, major companies like Amazon, Oracle, Meta, Coinbase and Palantir became America250 sponsors just ahead of Trump’s controversial military parade (held on Trump’s birthday).
- More serious nonprofit donation vehicles are believed to have replaced America250, such as the Presidential Library Fund, the East Wing Ballroom Fund, and Freedom 250, which have drawn scrutiny for their opaque donation structure and promises of presidential access to donors – as well as confusion about whether donors are giving that money to America250 or not. (The Freedom250 has also become a non-profit organization hosting odd centennial events, such as a UFC match on the White House lawn on June 14 and the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, an IndyCar race around the Washington Mall, on August 23.)
- Washington Post, A traditional pre-dinner reception at the Washington Hilton, which is owned by tech billionaire Jeff Bezos but is projected to lose $100 million by 2025, causing it to close about a third of its newsroom earlier this year, has been downgraded. axios. It’s ironic that last year it hosted a brunch party for advertisers at the members-only Ned Club, which reportedly cost $1 million.
“It’s a deranged penguin”
the verge feature editor Kevin Nguyen (no relation) recently interviewed the famous director Werner Herzog Ahead of the 6K IMAX re-release of his 2010 documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Much of the interview focused on the difficulties of recreating that film, but I asked Kevin if he could get Herzog’s opinion on a very specific thing related to my world. What did he think about the Trump administration’s social media teams using his “nihilistic penguin” scene encounter at the end of the world For creating memes promoting MAGA nationalist ideology earlier this year? (According to him, the penguin, who escapes from his colony and heads to the mountains alone, is an unorthodox free thinker; in the 2007 documentary, Herzog describes the penguin as “mad,” “deranged,” and “running toward certain death.”)
Their conversation is below:
I saw you acknowledge this on your instagram – That crazy penguin scene encounter at the end of the world In a way a new life has been found. I was wondering if you saw that trump administration and this Department of Homeland Security It has been turned into a meme.
Werner Herzog: Well, this is strange. This is not just a matter of Homeland Security or the White House. There are thousands of other people who have used it. [laughs] The strange thing is that I made this film and released it 18 years ago. This small sequence has been a part of the film for 18 years. Why is it that today, after 18 years, there is a sudden explosion on the internet? Why so? And you see the White House using it. I must say that I am a supporter of freedom of speech and I have to accept freedom of speech even in the White House. So it doesn’t really harm because it’s – I call it “reasonable use” – only for a few seconds. This is quite ridiculous to me. It’s kind of a joke for the White House to put this out.
So doesn’t it bother you that the White House treated this as some kind of joke? Completely out of context of the film? I watched the White House and DHS clips. They seem to completely misunderstand the scene or even the words.
I mean, you’ve got 80,000 misconceptions. It doesn’t matter if you talk about misunderstandings. The real surprising question is why was the film released after 18 years? And what doesn’t really come across in all these memes is that this is a heart-wrenching story that sticks with you.
I remember that scene well in the context of the movie and then when you see it as a clip from the Department of Homeland Security, it’s very strange. They’re, like, celebrating the penguins’ freedom?
Well, I do the same. Penguin Bus – I wouldn’t say crazy. I have a better word for it: deranged. This is beyond his limits. This is a crazy penguin. And it has hundreds of different interpretations and contexts and a life of its own. It’s shocking and, you see, when the White House published it – and I think they only use six or seven seconds – I only heard about it four days later. I saw it; By then everything was over. These events on the Internet are very short-lived. It lasted for 48 hours and then ended.
on us The Verge This 11,000-word feature we keep talking about atlanticKaty Weaver – personally, one of my favorite writers working today – about her nationwide quest to find the best free restaurant bread in America. Mild spoilers ahead: It turns out that her top choice is served at a DC-based restaurant, and I can personally vouch that it really is an incredible loaf. (I also have a complaint about the second middle bread that comes with it, but that’s neither here nor there.)
For any bakers reading regulator And can’t get to restaurants that serve it, I’ve been told by a source (aka a DC friend who is a passionate home baker) that this recipe is awesome. Give it a try if you can!
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