President Donald Trump posts a lot of AI-generated images I’m Truth Social and this has former President Barack Obama a little worried.
But, as Obama told The New Yorker’s Peter Slevin I’m am interview published Monday, then one depicting him and his wife as apes is not one of them.
“I don’t take it personally,” Obama said. “I mean, I’m always offended when my wife and kids get dragged into things, because they didn’t choose this … That’s a line that even people whose politics I deeply reject, I would expect them to care about. I would never talk about somebody’s family in that way.”
That meme was considered to be extremely racist.
Obama expressed more concern the Trump White House posting AI-generated images and memes that treat war and death “like a video game” and showed “excrement dumped on ordinary citizens.”
“I mean, I’m a fair target in the sense of, yeah, you can feel free to pick on me, because I’m your own size,” Obama said regarding Trump targeting everyday Americans.
Obama discussed Trump’s February post depicting him and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes earlier. Trump has refused to apologize for it.
“You know, it is true that it gets attention. It’s true that it’s a distraction. But, you know, as I’m traveling around the country, as you’re traveling around the country, you meet people. They still believe in decency, courtesy, kindness. And there’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television,” Obama told Brian Tyler Cohen. “And what is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum. And a sense of propriety and respect for the office, right? So that’s been lost.”
Obama also talked about how he had no desire to become a commentator.
“For me to function like Jon Stewart, even once a week, just going off, just ripping what was happening — which, by the way, I’m glad Jon’s doing it — then I’m not a political leader, I’m a commentator,” Obama said.
“The media environment is so difficult that people don’t even know all the stuff I am doing, right? And, I think, when they do see me, then the sense is well, why isn’t he doing that every day instead of just during a midterm election, or during a referendum campaign around gerrymandering, or what have you?” he added.
