FACT CHECK: Image Purporting To Show Bernie Sanders Wearing ‘Deport Elon Musk’ T-Shirt Is AI-Generated
A viral image shared on X purports to show Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders wearing a “Deport Elon Musk” T-shirt.
— Ernesto Resnik (@ernestorr) January 13, 2025
Verdict: False
A content detection scan using the website “Hive Moderation” indicates the image has been generated with artificial intelligence (AI). An AI expert denied the image’s authenticity in an email to Check Your Fact.
Fact Check:
Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, has joined the race for chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), according to Politico. Shakir said he is “frustrated” by a “lack of vision and conviction for what to do to restore a deeply damaged Democratic brand” in a letter to DNC members, the outlet reported.
The X image, viewed over 8,000 times as of writing, purports to show Sanders wearing a “Deport Elon Musk” T-shirt.
The claim is false. Check Your Fact conducted a content detection scan using the website “Hive Moderation,” and the results indicate the image is 99.3% likely to have been generated with AI. The results of the same scan reveal that “Stable Diffusion” is the program that was probably used to create the image. Likewise, Check Your Fact visually reviewed the image, and it appears to bear a watermark for “Grok,” a generative AI program that has been integrated with X.
Screenshot captured via Hive Moderation
Sanders also has not referenced the image on his website or his verified social media accounts. Musk has not publicly commented on the image, either. (RELATED: Facebook Video Purporting To Show Robot Cutting Elon Musk’s Hair Is AI-Generated)
In addition, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports to support the claim. Actually, the opposite is true. On Jan. 13, Lead Stories debunked the claim, reporting the image is AI-generated. The outlet also noted that a “Grok” watermark is visible on the image.
Furthermore, Dr. Walter Scheirer, an AI expert at the University of Notre Dame, denied the image’s authenticity in an email to Check Your Fact.
“This image is very likely the product of AI. A key clue is the ‘GROK’ watermark in the lower-right of the image. Grok is a newly released AI feature of the social media platform X, which includes a generative image generation algorithm that users can make use on-the-fly for their posts. Further, this image was released by a personal account on X, not an official news outlet or source associated with Sanders,” Scheirer said.
Check Your Fact has contacted a Sanders spokesperson for comment.
