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Creative Bloq
Creative Bloq
Technology
Daniel John

As a James Bond fan, I'm personally affronted by Trump's latest AI stunt

Donald Trump's head on James Bond's body.

First he came for the Pope, and I did not speak out. Then he came for Jesus Christ, and I did not speak out. Then he came for James Bond, and I wrote a 250 article about how annoyed I was.

Yes, the White House has posted yet another AI-seeped image depicting Donald Trump as a heroic public figure, this time imagining him as James Bond. And as a lifelong 007 fan, I'm triggered.

Trump's unwelcome Bond poster, emblazoned with the text 'Make America Great Again', takes clear design cues from the theatrical poster for No Time to Die, complete with black and white 007 logo background and gold wordmark. Except in this version, unlike Daniel Craig, Trump-Bond is mostly in shadow. To imagine what a more illuminated version might look like, I've made a quick mock-up (below) – no AI required.

Of course, there are so many reasons why this doesn't work. For the 007% of you who might not be aware, Bond is British. It's quite inherent to the character actually. "Just keeping the American end up, sir" doesn't have quite the same ring to it. Also, despite how old Roger Moore might look in Octopussy, Bond is not an octogenarian.

(Image credit: MGM/Reuters/Future)

But ultimately, the most affronting thing here is the fact that this irritating, juvenile cack is being spewed out by official White House social media channels. We're living in a timeline that's at once desperately serious (I won't go into everything that's wrong with the world right now), and, at the very top, wildly puerile. There are many things wrong with James Bond as a character, but at least he has class.

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