Anyone who has lived in the United States for the past eight years—and perhaps much, much longer—knows that politics isn’t something that should be discussed around extended family. It is entirely unlikely that everyone, even in a close-knit family, is likely to agree.
Differing political opinions are common today. Sometimes even those running for, or holding political office may not always have the support of loved ones.
It should be remembered that while two members of the Roosevelt family were elected president, Theodore Roosevelt was a Republican while his distant cousin Franklin Roosevelt was a Democrat.
So it might not be that surprising to hear that some members of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who is now the Democratic Party’s vice president nominee, might be backing former President Donald Trump. An image circulated on X—the social media platform formerly known as Twitter—on Wednesday that showed several individuals wearing “Nebraska Walz’s for Trump” t-shirts in front of a “Trump 2024–Take America Back” flag. The unidentified individuals are reported to be related to Governor Walz through his paternal grandfather. Walz was a native of the Cornhusker State before moving to Minnesota.
The image was reportedly taken by a family friend, and it was posted on X by Charles W. Herbster, a former Nebraska gubernatorial candidate and Trump supporter. The former president has since shared it on Truth Social.
Family members breaking ranks over politics isn’t uncommon in the modern era, and it should be remembered too that few of the extended Kennedy clan had endorsed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his bid for the White House, while Mary Trump—niece of the former president—has spoken out against him.
The Harris-Walz campaign has not issued any official comment, and calls to the governor’s office to verify the authenticity of the photo were not returned.
Is It Real?
Many users on social media were quick to dismiss the image as fake, even AI-generated. That claim was helped by the fact that the X Parody account @realDonParody also shared an image of Trump with supporters also wearing “Walz’s for TRUMP” shirts.
“AI certainly makes the validity of the content we consume more questionable. Is the picture we see actually what was there, is the voice we hear actually the one who said this, or is the recording of the video actually what happened? In this case, it has been reported from many outlets that relatives of Tim Walz are supporting Donald Trump. That’s not news, the picture does not put this in doubt,” explained technology industry analyst Roger Entner of Recon Analytics.
Coupled with memes that included edited photos, the matter became increasingly confused.
“It’s an interesting example of how we determine what’s ‘true’ in the modern media environment,” warned Dr. Cliff Lampe, professor of information and associate dean for Academic Affairs in the School of Information at the University of Michigan.
“There’s the technical level, where people will either look to see if this is AI, or at a more basic level a simpler photo editing product, which we’ve also seen a lot of this election,” said Lampe. “Let’s imagine for the moment the photo is unaltered. At that point there are still issues that include whether the folks here are actually ‘Walzes,’ and if they are whether they are part of Tim Walz’s immediate family or to what degree they might be related to him.”
The context is certainly put into question.
“Depending on the caption from a motivated poster would likely be a mistake for someone looking for the truth of an issue,” added Lampe. “One way to determine information authenticity is to think about the motivations someone has to share that information with you. Why do they want you to believe a thing? Of course, just because a person has a strong motivation doesn’t make the information false, but it should give pause.”
Likewise, the spelling of the family name on the shirts is also worth noting.
“I hope it’s an AI-generated picture because I would hope that every member of the Walz family has a strong enough grasp of the English language to know that pluralizing their own last name is not done with an ‘s but that it is ‘Walzes,'” noted Entner.
Expect More AI-Generated Content
Manipulated photos aren’t new, but until recently, it took some level of skill to make them convincing. Now AI can generate images in a flash.
“There have been a ton of AI-related images in the campaign, many of which are shared without caveat in online spaces. President Trump has shared AI-generated images of Taylor Swift supporting his campaign. Elon Musk has stated an AI-generated image of Kamala Harris dressed as a ‘communist leader.’ The use of AI is so brazen at this point, there’s no debate about whether it’s appropriate to use or not—it’s been de facto set as the norm,” explained Lampe.
But it isn’t the highly convincing photos and videos that should be a concern this election cycle.
“Just as dangerous are what we call ‘cheap fakes,” Lampe continued. “This can include a maliciously edited video cutting out important context, or a simple edit of a photo. Any child can do edits like that, and they are even more common than AI-generated images—which really any child can also generate—in trying to create political narratives if not outright mislead people.”
