President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated video of former President Barack Obama being arrested on Sunday, a reaction to recent allegations by Tulsi Gabbard that Obama’s intelligence officials manufactured a Russia collusion narrative. The 45-second video, set to the song ‘YMCA,’ shows Trump and Obama sitting in the Oval Office before Obama is arrested by agents and thrown into a jail cell. The AI-generated depiction of Trump grins as Obama is apprehended and wears an orange jumpsuit behind bars. The video emerged as Gabbard’s claims gained traction, asserting that Obama’s team created the Russia hoax to harm Trump’s 2016 campaign.
According to Gabbard’s office, the documents released on Friday detail how Obama’s intelligence officials, including former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and others, created a narrative that Russia had aided Trump in the 2016 election. Gabbard claims that these documents show no evidence of collusion existed prior to the election, and that the narrative was fabricated to undermine Trump’s candidacy. This contradicted previous assessments that suggested Russia had neither the intent nor the capability to hack the U.S. election.
Gabbard has vowed to send the documents to the FBI and the Department of Justice for a criminal referral, arguing that the actions of Obama’s team constituted a subversion of the will of the American people. She asserts that the fabricated intelligence narrative undermined the democratic process and enacted what she describes as a ‘coup’ against Trump, who was duly elected by the American public. Trump’s response to these allegations, through the AI video, underscores the ongoing political tensions and the use of digital media to disseminate contested narratives about past events.
Meanwhile, the White House has expressed interest in holding Obama’s former intelligence officials accountable for their role in the alleged Russia hoax. The situation highlights the complex interplay between political rhetoric, intelligence operations, and the use of digital platforms to shape public perception of past events, especially within the context of the ongoing scrutiny of Trump’s presidency and the legacy of the Obama administration.