Social media is a breeding ground for memes, jokes and, unfortunately, misinformation. Recently, pictures of incumbent US President Joe Biden and former US President Barack Obama in pink suits were posted - a tongue-in-cheek homage to the new "Barbie" film. But as it turned out, the photos were manipulated and not authentic. This article provides a thorough fact check on these viral images and looks at how and why they came to be.

Viral “Barbie” pictures: A joke takes its course

The pictures of Biden and Obama in the eye-catching pink suits spread like wildfire on social media. Some users shared them believing they were real, while others recognized them as humorous fakes.

The ironic images were shared as part of a wider debate in which conservative voices criticized the Barbie film as too "woke" and lamented the lack of attention given to the controversial film "Sound of Freedom". However, regardless of political views, the images were fake.

The origin of the images: a play with colors and shapes

Through research, we discovered that the images were first shared by Chris Jackson, a Tennessee election commissioner and member of the Democratic Party. Jackson clearly had fun painting the presidents' suits bright pink and then posting the images as a humorous commentary on the current political debate.

Given the right-wing outcry over the @Barbie movie, @POTUS @JoeBiden should do a bit of a closet shake-up this week ,” Jackson said in a July 23, 2023 thread

“Overly smooth” details reveal AI manipulation

He first posted a picture of Biden in a pink suit on a matching pink sofa. " I just had to take another one ," Jackson then said, suggesting he created the images, posting the second image of Biden behind the wheel of a pink car.

kay. One last thing ,” he concluded, sharing the image of Obama and Biden, identical to those shared in recent posts on the platform.

Former US Vice President Mike Pence was not spared either and Jackson wrote on Twitter: ““What a kindness. Mike Pence is really desperate to make the debate happen.”

After further research, we discovered that similar images are in a Facebook group called “ AI Art Universe ,” which is known for sharing art created by artificial intelligence. Another important note indicates that the image was generated by an AI and is not authentic.

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The Fact Check: The Truth Behind the Pink Suits

To provide a clear overview of the facts behind these viral images, we present the following fact-checking table:

ClaimsFact check
The pictures of Biden and Obama in pink suits are real.The images have been digitally manipulated. This was confirmed by both the creator of the images and a digital animation expert.
The images were published by an official source.The images did not come from a credible media source and were not found on the White House website or its Flickr account.
Presidents have worn pink suits for a Barbie promotion.This is wrong. It was confirmed that the images were created as a joke and that the presidents did not actually wear pink suits for a Barbie promotion.

Conclusion: A look at the power of AI
The viral images of Biden and Obama in 'Barbie Pink' are a perfect example of how artificial intelligence and digital tools can be used to create humorous and sometimes controversial content. They are also a reminder of the importance of carefully examining and questioning information shared on social media. In our digital era, fact checking is more essential than ever.

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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )