California Governor Gavin Newsom has stirred up quite a bit of controversy online after posting an AI-generated image on X. The image was of figures closely associated with President Donald Trump, including Kid Rock, Tucker Carlson, and a late Hulk Hogan with angel wings and a halo, bestowing a blessing upon Newsom. This post was captioned “so nice” and quickly drew criticism, particularly from a user who denounced the post as “disrespectful and blasphemous”.
Instead of taking the post down, Newsom decided to double down, responding with another AI-generated image that referenced a previous picture shared by Trump depicting himself as the Pope. The post was captioned with an insincere “oops, our bad, sorry. meant to post this”. Newsom’s initial post mimicked fan art that is sometimes created and shared by Trump himself, which features him being blessed by deceased celebrities and even Jesus.
