Did Donald Trump Use AI in His Tribute to Charlie Kirk? Video Editor Sets the Record Straight

President Donald Trump has been accused of using artificial intelligence (AI) in a video addressing the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

In a clip released shortly after Kirk was shot at a speaking engagement in Utah, Trump referred to him as a "patriot" and a "martyr."

But as he spoke, subtle glitches apparently emerged in the video, particularly with his hands and shirt, leading viewers to question the authenticity of the presentation.

"Uhhhh, can some of the bigger accounts start talking about the Trump Oval Office address being AI. This is a pretty big deal," one user noted, sharing a clip of the peculiar glitch.

Another user remarked on the bizarre sequence of events surrounding Kirk's death, stating, "So yesterday was incredibly weird. First, Trump is one of the first people to announce that Charlie had died. Immediately after that, MAGA influencers began pushing Civil War spin. Then, Trump gave an address that was at least partially AI-generated. Remarkably weird things are happening."

A third comment echoed similar concerns, emphasizing, "This very much looks like an AI avatar of Trump delivering an official message for the president. His body and hands barely move for the entire video… what's going on here?"

Despite widespread speculation about AI, video expert Brian Alldridge (@brianalldridge) provided insights that challenge the narrative.

In a TikTok video with over 374,000 views, he confirmed the presence of glitches but assured audiences that AI was not involved. Instead, he pointed to a lesser-known video editing technique called a "morph cut."

"You've got two separate clips that are stitched together. What the software does is analyze the difference between those clips and generate new frames to fill the gap," Alldridge explained. He mentioned that this technique had gained attention for its use in the Star Wars movies, where it allowed for smoother transitions between takes.

"In videos like this, it's mainly used to smooth over filler words," he added.

Reactions to Alldridge's explanation poured in.

One viewer acknowledged, "Ah, ok, that explains it. He was talking too smoothly for too long, which he can never do normally."

Another remarked, "So what happened was he couldn't do a coherent take, so they had to stitch together a bunch of takes until the message was coherent enough to where they felt it got his point across."

Yet another comment expressed concern about the implications of digitally altered videos being released as part of the official record.

"The issue is that the White House is putting out digitally altered videos as part of the official record! Yeah, that's what's problematic," they said.

Kirk was a staunch Trump supporter as a founder of conservative youth group Turning Point USA. In 2016, he served as a personal aide to the president in his 2016 campaign trail. Kirk also engaged with and energized young conservatives, organizing large-scale rallies.

Trump consistently expressed his admiration and support for Kirk. He spoke at Turning Point conferences, praised Kirk's work. Following Kirk's assassination, Trump issued a presidential proclamation, ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff and announced he would posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.