A viral video shared on TikTok purports President-elect Donald Trump said, “never hurt your mother.”
@trumppmotivational Never hurt your mother. #motivation #inspirational #trump #speech #viral #foryou ♬ original sound – 🇺🇲 Mr. President Thoughts
Verdict: False
A content detection scan using the website “TrueMedia.org” indicates the video features audio that has been generated with artificial intelligence (AI). In addition, there is no evidence to suggest Trump made the remark. A media forensics and AI expert denied the claim’s validity in an email to Check Your Fact.
Fact Check:
Trump called for Congress to abolish the debt ceiling Thursday, according to NBC News. Trump said the debt ceiling “doesn’t mean anything, except psychologically” during a phone interview with NBC News ahead of a potential government shutdown, the outlet reported.
The TikTok video, which has amassed over 400,000 likes as of writing, purports Trump said, “never hurt your mother.”
“Never hurt your mother. Never disrespect her, even in anger. Never abandon her. Remember, she is the only one who loved you before you even took your first breath. She carried you for months, felt your every move, and endured pain just to bring you into this world. Can you imagine that, the depth of that love?,” Trump appears to say in part.
The video opens with a clip of Trump speaking before transitioning to multiple stock images of nature-based and city scenery.
The claim is false. A content detection scan using the website, “TrueMedia.org” indicates the video features audio that is AI-generated. Likewise, Trump has not publicly referenced the claim on his official website, his TRUTH Social account, or his verified social media accounts.
In addition, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports suggesting Trump made the remark. Actually, the opposite is true. On Dec. 18, Snopes debunked the claim. According to the outlet, the same quote “has been attached to video footage of other notable people on TikTok,” including Prince Harry, Steve Harvey, and Sylvester Stallone. (RELATED: Video Of Biden Speaking About Drones Is AI-Generated)
The TikTok account that posted the video has also featured the same clip of Trump in other videos it has shared, Snopes reported.
Furthermore, Dr. Walter Scheirer, a media forensics and AI expert at the University of Notre Dame, denied the claim’s validity in an email to Check Your Fact.
“This video is the product of a generative AI system. The video clips are cartoon-like in appearance and not photorealistic. The audio track has likely been synthesized and doesn’t sound like a precise match to Trump’s recent vocal performances. The TikTok account ‘trumppmotivational’ is not an official outlet of authentic Trump content and is a prolific producer of this style of AI-generated video,” Scheirer said.
Check Your Fact has also contacted a Trump spokesperson for comment.