Deepfake Video Puts Trump in Independence Day

And Bill Pullman responds
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted May 17, 2020 1:40 PM CDT

President Trump, leading the charge in Independence Day? Yep, Trump tweeted Saturday a deepfake video of himself superimposed on footage of the classic blockbuster—so now it's Trump giving Bill Pullman's rousing speech to pilots about uniting for battle against extraterrestrial invaders, Deadline reports. Superimposed on pilots' faces are the mugs of conservative figures like Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Donald Trump Jr, and Ted Cruz (who appears to be fighting back tears). "We're fighting for our right to live, to exist," says Trump-as-Pullman. "We're going to live on. We're going to survive. Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!"

Pullman, who played President Thomas J. Whitmore in the original flick, took notice of the tweet that has nearly 75,000 retweets and 236,000 likes as of this writing. "My voice belongs to no one but me, and I’m not running for president—this year," he tells the Hollywood Reporter. Vanity Fair reports that the deepfake was likely made by the "@mad_liberals" Twitter account, which Trump has praised as being among his "keyboard warriors." But the video wasn't retweeted from @mad_liberals—it was posted uniquely from Trump's account. (More Twitter stories.)

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