8 months ago
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A video appearing to show MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell driving while not paying attention to the road has gone viral on X. And one user has even claimed Lindell was “hammered” while driving. But the video is completely fake.
Revisiting Rick Flagg in The Suicide Squad
The video has been seen over 5 million times on X alone, with many people clearly understanding it’s an edited video. But the video, which is originally from 2023, is starting to be shared without context. And some people think it’s real.
X’s program of crowdsourced fact-checking, Community Notes, has yet to annotate the fake video. But the original video, while not entirely complimentary to Lindell, clearly shows the MyPillow CEO talking directly to the camera while his car isn’t moving.
“Strung-out looking Mike Lindell says he really needs people to buy some of his new slippers after he was canceled by retailers and shopping channels,” liberal influencer Ron Filipkowski wrote on X back in March 2023.
The video appears to have been originally edited by comedy writer Jesse McLaren, who added a moving background and engine noises to make it appear like Lindell is driving. McLaren’s video was retweeted on top of the original, making it clear his intention wasn’t to deceive anyone but instead to just make a joke.
“I made it look like the car’s moving and it’s 100x better,” McLaren tweeted last year.
But the video started making the rounds again on Friday, without making it clear the video had been manipulated. That happens frequently, as it recently did when a joke about Gmail being shut down escaped the circle of original posters who knew it was a joke.
“My dude is HAMMERED,” an X account called Universe Lover wrote on Friday.
We’ve also made a slider below, which you can pull to the left and the right to see what was added. On the left, a screenshot from the original video where it’s clear Lindell’s car isn’t moving. On the right, you can see what’s been added in the background.
It’s not clear what software McLaren used to edit this video, but with AI video generation tools getting better with each passing month, it won’t be long until everyone has the ability to create virtually anything they can imagine with just a few short word prompts.
The viral internet is only going to get more confusing with AI advancements just over the horizon. And with a major election just nine months away, political actors like Lindell (a staunch supporter of former president Donald Trump) are going to be inserted into all kinds of scenarios that look real, but turn out to be fake.
