‘WAIT, Is This Real?!’: Trump’s Celebration Takes a Jaw-Dropping Turn After He Starts Talking to Teddy Roosevelt — Who Has Been Dead Since 1919
When Melania Trump said that A.I. was powering “the age of imagination,” she likely did not consider that her husband could be part of the target audience.
The first lady’s technology initiative focuses on children, inspiring innovation among K-12 students.
Nevertheless, Donald Trump, 80, has become the center of A.I. discourse with his unusual implementation of the new tech.
His administration regularly posts A.I. memes and videos to bolster his image as a dogged American leader, going as far as depicting himself as God. They also attack his political foes like in the racist video that showed Barack and Michelle Obama as apes.
The public had never witnessed Trump and A.I. collide in real time until his July 1 trip to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota.
The politician toured the immersive experience that features an interactive hologram of Roosevelt. Roosevelt held office from 1901 to 1909. He died at age 60 in 1919.
Trump stood at a podium, staring at a lifelike avatar of Roosevelt in the Campfire Reading Room exhibit. “Teddy” is projected behind a desk covered with piles of books. Trump’s communications advisor, Margo Martin, shared the clip of the exchange.
Roosevelt came to life, offering presidential advice to a successor. “Every day, a president faces storms most people never see — but if you keep up your nerve and remember the nation comes first, you get through. I know you know that feeling yourself,” he said.
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Trump responded, “Well, I appreciate those words. Those words are fantastic. I just want to say it’s an honor to be with you today, and we are making a little bit of a tour of some of the fantastic things you’ve done.”
He later bragged to supporters, “I even had a conversation with Theodore Roosevelt.” That moment convinced social media users that Trump believed the exchange was real.
The reactions include people who said the following:
“No wonder this administration is obssessed with AI, they think its all real.”
“It makes me even MORE concerned about all the AI stuff he reposts I think we have all been assuming he knew it wasn’t real but now.”
“WAIT. Is this real???”
Speculation about Trump’s mental fitness also surfaced amid ongoing concerns about his declining health.
Those reactions jump from “They need to do an INTERVENTION asap!!” to “Congress need to do something about this man dementia. He is not running this Country. He just makes appearances and say stupid stuff.”
As well as, “SMH. I repeat yet again— Trump has zero contact with reality. Also called insanity.” Someone else declared, “I feel like this is what the 25th amendment and impeachment was designed for.”
Critics also slammed White House communications staffer Margo Martin in tweets that read, “This video could have probably not been posted” and “Margo, you’re not helping his image. He comes across as a delusional idiot talking to a hologram, as if it is a real person. And no, he and TR are not at all similar. Not by a long shot.”
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In another clip, he asked Roosevelt, “Do you consider the Panama Canal your greatest achievement?”
The avatar explained that greatness is subjective and that the canal “showed what America could achieve” adding, “I measure my greatest work by the lives improved.” Trump has threatened to “take back” the waterway and rename it.
The trip grew more unpredictable, casting the spotlight on Trump for bizarre commentary. For instance, he threw out the idea of awarding himself and his sons, Don Jr. and Eric Trump, the Congressional Medal of Honor. “We’ll have a threesome,” he said. The crowd erupted with laughter.
When he recited Roosevelt’s “Freedom is not a gift that lasts long in the hands of cowards,” Trump admitted he was not above thievery. “I want to use that — I shouldn’t have said that. I would’ve used that, and I wouldn’t have attributed it to T.R.”
Melania was previously called out for copying Michelle Obama’s speeches and her “Becoming” documentary for her own vanity film, “Melania,” released in January.