When Leaders Share Deepfakes, Students Pay the Price
How AI-generated political media and online cruelty from public figures are reshaping what students learn about truth, ethics, and digital responsibility.
This special edition steps outside our usual format to address a growing concern: when national leaders share AI-generated images and engage in online attacks, they undermine the very lessons we teach about truth, empathy, and responsible technology use. As deepfakes enter political communication and official accounts amplify them, schools are left to clean up the misinformation.
Below, I unpack the latest examples and their implications for educators guiding the next generation of digital citizens.
Paid subscribers will also find an extended classroom guide and reflection toolkit designed to help you turn this real-world controversy into a timely lesson on ethics and media literacy.
When Leaders Share Deepfakes, Students Pay the Price
This weekend, President Donald Trump shared a video depicting himself flying a fighter jet and dumping sludge over protesters. It was not real. It was AI-generated. Within hours, Senator J.D. Vance and even the official White House account circulated similar imagery.
Axios documented the sequence in detail.
For educators, moments like this are more than political noise. They cut directly to the heart of what we try to teach every day—how to distinguish truth from fabrication, and how to treat others with dignity online. When national leaders casually share synthetic media or mock opponents through digital spectacle, they model behavior that normalizes deception and cruelty.
We can’t tell students that “AI deepfakes are dangerous” and “cyberbullying is unacceptable” while the most visible adults in their world do both. Every post or share from an elected official becomes an example that trickles down into our classrooms, reshaping what students believe is acceptable digital conduct.
AI Imagery as Political Theater
AI tools now produce visuals so polished that they resemble professional film work. In the King Trump video, the symbolism was deliberate—power, control, dominance. These are not harmless memes. They are engineered narratives using the aesthetics of entertainment to evoke emotion and loyalty.
As the PBS NewsHour reported, President Trump’s team has repeatedly posted AI portraits portraying him as a warrior, a saint, or a king. The coverage notes how these images thrive on engagement algorithms that reward attention, not accuracy. The more people react—whether with outrage or admiration—the more the content spreads.
For students still learning to evaluate credibility, this merging of propaganda and parody is nearly impossible to parse. When they see manipulated imagery amplified by national figures, it reinforces the idea that truth is relative and context optional.
The New York Times Weighs In
The October 22nd edition of The New York Times Daily Newsletter underscores exactly what we’ve been talking about. In a piece by Stuart A. Thompson, the Times examined President Trump’s escalating use of AI-generated imagery—and its normalization as a tool of political messaging.
“The era of A.I. propaganda is here — and Trump is an enthusiastic participant,” Thompson writes.
The Times identified dozens of AI-generated posts shared on the President’s Truth Social account, including fabricated images of Trump dressed as the pope, watching as Barack Obama is arrested in the Oval Office, and standing atop a mountain having “conquered Canada.” The newsletter notes that the paper now marks AI-altered visuals with a red bar to prevent misinformation from spreading.
Experts quoted in the article point out that even seemingly humorous or absurd posts carry weight. Henry Ajder, an AI consultant, explained that these pieces “are designed to go viral… but there’s often still some kind of messaging in there.”
The Times analysis mirrors what educators are witnessing: as AI-generated propaganda becomes mainstream, it reframes what “presidential” means and blurs the boundary between satire, spectacle, and manipulation. It also affirms why teaching digital ethics, verification, and civic media literacy is no longer optional—it’s essential.
Teaching Against the Current
In library and classroom settings, educators are already fighting an uphill battle. We design lessons on identifying misinformation, label-checking, and source verification. We walk students through reverse-image searches and metadata analysis. Yet one viral post from a national account can undo weeks of careful instruction by making digital manipulation look clever or entertaining instead of unethical.
What should we tell our students when they ask, “If the President can post that, why can’t I?”
We can’t rely on authority alone. Instead, we have to rebuild credibility from the ground up—by showing students how AI tools generate convincing falsehoods, how to verify authenticity, and how to recognize emotional manipulation. We also need to discuss the power dynamics behind these posts: who benefits when misinformation spreads, and who loses trust as a result.
The Ethics of Example
Leadership is, at its core, about modeling. When public officials use AI imagery or social media to humiliate opponents, they send a message that cruelty is permissible. For educators, that creates a moral tension we cannot ignore.
Students notice the contradiction. They see adults break the very digital-citizenship rules we ask them to uphold. They see that accountability often stops at the top. In that reality, our work becomes less about compliance and more about conscience—helping students understand why integrity matters even when it isn’t modeled by those in power.
A Teachable Moment
The PBS NewsHour segment is one I plan to use in class this week. It’s factual, measured, and accessible. After showing it, I’ll ask my students:
What clues suggest the images were AI-generated?
Why might public figures post manipulated visuals?
How should we respond when someone powerful spreads misinformation?
These questions move students beyond outrage and into analysis. They help young people build the discernment that civic life now demands.
The hardest part of teaching media literacy today isn’t the technology—it’s the hypocrisy. When those in power use AI to distort reality or weaponize ridicule, it weakens the moral foundation we depend on to teach empathy, evidence, and ethical reasoning.
But this also opens a path forward. Educators can reclaim these moments as opportunities for critical dialogue, modeling the kind of integrity and truth-seeking that public life too often lacks. In an age of political deepfakes and performative cruelty, the classroom remains one of the few places where truth still matters.
Sources:
Axios: “Trump posts fake video in ‘KING TRUMP’ jet as GOP dismisses No Kings marches.”
PBS NewsHour: “Trump’s team keeps posting AI portraits of him—and we keep clicking.”
Postscript: For Paid Subscribers
Deepfakes and Digital Ethics: Classroom Guide and Reflection Toolkit
This companion guide turns this week’s political deepfake examples into a structured, inquiry-based lesson on media literacy, ethics, and leadership.
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