Latest news with #VillagePeople
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Village People Reacts After President Trump Shares ‘Offensive' AI Video of Fake Obama Arrest Set to ‘Y.M.C.A.'
Village People previously gave Donald Trump the green flag to use 'Y.M.C.A.' in his campaign efforts, but a recent video featuring the song shared by the president may have just crossed a line in the eyes of the disco group. Shortly after the POTUS shared a fake, AI-generated video on Truth Social of former president Barack Obama getting arrested while the band's iconic 1970s hit plays in the background, Village People shared its thoughts on the matter in a joint statement to People on Monday (July 21). 'While we don't want 'Y.M.C.A.' to be used for political endorsements of any kind, President Trump merely sharing a video containing our song does not meet the standard for copyright infringement,' the members said. More from Billboard Sheryl Crow Slams 'Immoral' President Trump in New Protest Song 'The New Normal': Stream It Now Djo Scores First Airplay Chart No. 1 With 'Basic Being Basic' Druski Announces Coulda Fest Tour Featuring BigXthaPlug, Young M.A & Soulja Boy: See the Dates 'However, we will attempt to find the original person or entity who posted the offensive video featuring President Barack Obama, and have such video taken down as not being endorsed by Village People, nor any of the owners of the copyright,' the group added. In the controversial video, digital renderings of Trump and Obama sit together in the Oval Office. As faux FBI officers suddenly come into view, the twice-impeached chief of state smiles unnaturally while the Democratic politician is handcuffed and carried out of frame. The clip — which also features a montage of Democratic party leaders repeating the phrase, 'No one is above the law' — then cuts to AI-generated shots of Obama standing behind bars, wearing an orange jumpsuit. The former president has never been arrested, though the sitting POTUS is a convicted felon. This isn't the first time Trump has platformed misleading AI-generated content. Last August, he shared false images that led supporters to believe that Taylor Swift had endorsed him for president, something the pop star later rebuked while throwing her support behind Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. Much like the AI materials he's shared, 'Y.M.C.A.' has also become a hallmark of Trump's second term in the White House. The billionaire often used the track at his events and rallies leading up to his 2024 election win, and — despite previously requesting that he stop — Village People has signed off on his affinity for the song. 'The Trump campaign knew they had obtained a political use license from BMI and absent that license being terminated, they had every right to continue using Y.M.C.A.,' founder Victor Willis said in a December statement on Facebook. 'The financial benefits have been great as well as 'Y.M.C.A.' is estimated to gross several million dollars since the President Elect's continued use of the song. Therefore, I'm glad I allowed the President Elect's continued use of Y.M.C.A. And I thank him for choosing to use my song.' The following month, Village People performed 'Y.M.C.A.' at the president's pre-inauguration rally in Washington, D.C., where Trump joined the band members and danced along on stage. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Hans India
a day ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Trump shares AI video showing Obama getting arrested
Washington: Stepping up his offensive against Barack Obama, Donald Trump has posted an AI-generated video on Truth Social depicting former President Obama being arrested by FBI agents inside the Oval Office. The video shows that Obama in handcuffs being taken by FBI agents from Oval Office as Trump watches, smiling. The 45-second clip begins with a doctored voiceover of Obama saying, 'Especially the President is above the law,' followed by a montage of various US political figures—Democrats and Republicans—declaring, 'No one is above law.' The video then transitions to a fictional scene showing Obama being handcuffed by FBI agents in the same office he once occupied. It ends with an AI-generated image of the former President standing in a jail cell, dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, as the Village People's 'YMCA' plays in the background. No disclaimer was attached to the video clarifying it is fake or fictional, drawing sharp criticism from opponents who called the act 'deeply irresponsible'. The video was posted after Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard said she had 'overwhelming' evidence that senior Obama administration officials fabricated the Trump-Russia collusion narrative following the 2016 election. Gabbard has publicly called for a criminal trial against members of the former administration, alleging they weaponised intelligence agencies to subvert Trump's presidency. 'Americans will finally learn the truth about how, in 2016, intelligence was politicised and weaponised by the most powerful people in the Obama administration to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President Donald Trump,' Gabbard wrote on X (formerly Twitter), adding that this effort undermined American democracy. She said she plans to forward the documents her office uncovered to the FBI and the Department of Justice for criminal referral. According to her, the records indicate that prior to the 2016 election, there was no actionable evidence of Russian collusion and that narratives around Trump were deliberately distorted for political purposes. However, a 114-page declassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) presents a different picture. The document states that, as of November 2016, the US intelligence community had consistently assessed that Russia was 'probably not trying to influence the election using cyber means.'
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Trump posts fake video showing Obama arrest
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The fake video purports to show FBI agents bursting into the meeting, pushing Obama into a kneeling position and putting him in handcuffs as Trump looks on smiling, while the song 'Y.M.C.A.' by the Village People plays. Later, the fake video shows Obama in an orange jumpsuit pacing in a cell. The start of the video shows a compilation of actual footage of Democratic leaders, including Obama and former President Joe Biden, saying, 'no one is above the law.' Advertisement Obama's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the video. Trump regularly reposts AI-generated or mocked-up videos and photographs on his Truth Social account. Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, said last week that the latest report released by her offices showed a 'treasonous conspiracy in 2016' by top Obama administration officials to harm Trump. She said she would make a criminal referral to the FBI based on recently released documents. Advertisement A link to real video footage from an interview that Gabbard gave to Fox News on Sunday on the subject was also posted to Trump's social media. Democrats have denounced the administration's effort to discredit Obama as politically motivated and riddled with errors, and contradicting previous reviews of the assessment. The latest document, issued last week, did not show Russian manipulation of the election, and instead reinforced the view of intelligence officials who found no evidence that Russia hacked voting systems to change votes. Democrats have cited reports by intelligence agencies and Senate investigators who found that, while Russian hackers probed election systems to see if they could change vote outcomes and extracted voter registration data in at least two states, there was no evidence that they attempted to change votes. The Obama administration's assessment also did not say that Russian hackers manipulated votes. Trump has been trying to change the conversation among his supporters, after the Justice Department walked back its promise to release the full collection of files about Epstein, a multimillionaire financier and convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019. That decision angered some of the president's most ardent supporters. Some have questioned Trump's judgment on the matter, causing strife within the MAGA movement that powered Trump to two presidential election victories. This article originally appeared in .
Metro
2 days ago
- Politics
- Metro
Donald Trump shares truly bizarre AI video of Barack Obama being arrested
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Donald Trump has shared another shocking AI-generated video of former President Barack Obama in prison. It came on the heels of his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, claiming that Obama staged a 'years-long coup' to keep Trump from re-entering the White House. She was referring to declassified documents, which claim the Obama administration 'manufactured' intelligence which claimed Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump win. In 2018, Trump himself admitted Russia did interfere with the 2016 election, while speaking to a pool of journalists after a summit with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, but insisted the meddling had not affected the election result. It seems Trump is still attempting to deny the interference, but by putting the blame on his 2016 predecessor, Obama. At the beginning of the clip, Obama was heard speaking during Joe Biden's presidential campaign, saying: 'Nobody, especially not the president, is above the law.' In the absurd video, Obama is seen kneeling and being handcuffed by the FBI, as Trump beams. 'YMCA' by the Village People is playing in the background. Obama then looks desolate in a prison cell and orange jumpsuit, staring out from prison bars. He went on to post dozens of references to Gabbard's interview on Fox News, including mocked-up mugshots of Obama and his former administration members. Trump also shared a timeline of what he believes is the 'Russia hoax', citing a December 9, 2016, meeting of Obama's officials to 'plan the hoax'. He then claimed Obama used his 'media propaganda arm' to spread the 'fake news', which led to the investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 election. It's not the first time Trump has ripped into former FBI Director James Comey and Democrats for the investigation into alleged collusion between his campaign and Russia. The Mueller report, which investigated the alleged collusion, found no evidence that President Trump himself, or anyone in his campaign team, had colluded with Russia to try and influence the 2016 election result. But in January 2017, the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee found that Russian interference in the election was 'coherent and well-constructed' – though not by Trump or his associates. The Obama video, while shocking, is not the first AI-generated clip Trump has shared online. Earlier this year, Trump shared an AI-generated video showing what he hoped Gaza would look like in 2025. More Trending Captioned 'Gaza 2025 – what's next?', the video showed AI-generated likenesses of displaced Gazans walking through the rubble before transitioning to a newer, Dubai-esque city. 'Oh I think they'd love to leave Gaza if they had an option,' Trump previously said. 'Right now they don't have an option. What are they going to do? They have to go back to Gaza. 'I think it should be a location that's going to make people happy. You look over the decades, it's all death in Gaza. This has been happening for years. It's all death. 'If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people, permanently, in nice homes where they can be happy and not be shot and not be killed and not be knifed to death like what's happening in Gaza.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Trump sues newspaper for £7,500,000,000 over claims he sent Epstein 'drawing of naked woman' MORE: Fans convinced The Late Show With Stephen Colbert cancelled for terrifying reason MORE: Trump ignores Epstein questions at signing of Genius Act he says was 'named after me'
Time Magazine
2 days ago
- Politics
- Time Magazine
Trump Envisions Jailing Obama
Donald Trump, who openly campaigned in 2016 against Hillary Clinton on chants of 'lock her up' but was ultimately persuaded not to pursue her prosecution, now appears to be fantasizing about throwing his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, in jail. And his Administration is actively taking steps in that direction. The current President shared on his Truth Social platform on Sunday a video from TikTok user @neo8171 that starts with a montage of Democratic politicians, including Obama, saying, 'No one is above the law,' to the tune of Luciano Michelini's 'Frolic' (made famous as the theme song of sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm). After about 40 seconds, the soundtrack changes to the Village People's 'Y.M.C.A.,' as apparently AI-generated video depicts Trump and Obama sitting in the Oval Office, and Federal Bureau of Investigations officers handcuffing Obama while Trump laughs. It ends with an AI-generated depiction of Obama pacing around a jail cell. Trump also shared an AI-generated image attributed to X user @sirtemplemount that showed fake mugshots of Obama and officials from his Administration with the words 'The Shady Bunch.' And the President shared a screenshot from X of user @Real_JaredMarsh, who responded to a clip of Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R, Fla.) saying on Fox News that 'there needs to be criminal prosecution and arrests.' Marsh posted, 'I agree with @RepLuna!' alongside an image of men being arrested outside the U.S. Capitol with the words 'Unless this happens, nothing will change' overlaid on the image. Trump's posts come after his Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat turned MAGA Republican, on Friday announced that she was turning over evidence of an 'Obama Administration Conspiracy to Subvert Trump's 2016 Victory and Presidency' to the Department of Justice 'for criminal referral.' 'President Obama and his national security cabinet members manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President Trump,' she alleged in a DNI press release. What Tulsi Gabbard claims about Obama officials Gabbard's office declassified a number of documents and released a memo outlining a timeline of alleged information 'manipulated and withheld' by the U.S. Intelligence Community beginning in 2016. In a series of social media posts summarizing her findings, she said the documents 'detail a treasonous conspiracy by officials at the highest levels of the Obama White House to subvert the will of the American people and try to usurp the President from fulfilling his mandate.' The announcement backs Trump's longtime contention that he was the victim of a 'witch hunt,' which the President has previously dubbed the 'Russiagate hoax.' Gabbard's announcement comes after Fox News reported earlier this month that the FBI is investigating its former director James Comey as well as former CIA director John Brennan for possible false statements to Congress after current CIA director John Ratcliffe released a review in June that was critical of a 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment that claimed Russia attempted to influence the 2016 election to help Trump. Intelligence agencies in 2017 had assessed that 'Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency.' Gabbard alleges that Obama Administration officials leaked false statements to media outlets and manufactured information for the 2017 assessment. Gabbard's office asserts that there was 'no indication of a Russian threat to directly manipulate the actual vote count,' though the earlier assessment never suggested that. Gabbard's report is based on newly-declassified intelligence assessments and internal communications prior to the 2016 election that assessed that Russia and other foreign adversaries would 'probably not' try to influence the election through cyber means, as well as emails concerning an intelligence assessment at Obama's request after Trump's victory in November 2016 into 'tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election.' The Obama Administration openly accused Russia of trying to influence the election through hacking campaigns, including of the DNC, in October 2016, and it was publicly reported in early 2017 that Obama Administration officials had scrambled to preserve evidence related to the then-ongoing probe of Russian interference and potential coordination with Trump and his associates. 'This was politicized intelligence that was used as the basis for countless smears seeking to delegitimize President Trump's victory, the years-long Mueller investigation, two Congressional impeachments, high level officials being investigated, arrested, and thrown in jail, heightened US-Russia tensions, and more,' Gabbard's office said. 'It's worse than even politicization of intelligence. It was manufactured intelligence that sought to achieve President Obama and his team's objective, which was undermining President Trump's presidency and subverting the will of the American people. So, yes, next week we will be releasing more detailed information about how this took place and the extent to which this information was sought to be hidden,' Gabbard told Fox News on Sunday, in a clip that was also shared by Trump. 'For the American people to have any sense of trust in the integrity of our democratic republic, accountability, action, prosecution, indictments for those who were responsible for trying to steal our democracy is essential for us to make sure that this never happens to our country again.' How Republicans have reacted Fox News called Gabbard's announcement 'a potential blockbuster scandal,' and Trump shared the clip alongside the latter two words in all caps. A number of Trump allies have also supported Gabbard's declassifications and call for prosecutions. 'This is potentially Watergate-esque,' Rep. Pat Fallon (R, Texas) told the right-leaning news network over the weekend. 'Makes Watergate look like amateur hour,' Rep. Pat Harrigan (R, N.C.) posted on X. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt boosted Gabbard's posts on X, writing 'Every American should read this.' White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller said in a post on X that Gabbard 'exposed the startling depths of a seditious coup against the Republic. The forces behind this coup have done and will do anything to protect their grasp on illegal & illegitimate power. Do not underestimate their capabilities or depravities. But WE are stronger.' 'These tyrants are finally being called out for what they've done,' Sen. Mike Lee (R, Utah) posted on X. 'The Russiagate hoax was a far more effective attack on our republic & our elections than any foreign adversary could have managed. Those who sold this lie to the American people became the very same villains they invented,' he added from his official account. 'The corruption runs deep in the Swamp. Thank goodness we have a President and administration committed to truth and accountability,' posted Rep. Troy Nehls (R, Texas). 'EVERYONE involved must be held to account,' Rep. Andy Biggs (R, Ariz.) posted. Added Rep. Greg Steube (R, Fla.): 'This is only the beginning. Much more will be revealed.' How Democrats have reacted Democrats have criticized the report as misleading and politically motivated. Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called the report 'baseless' and an attempt to rehash 'decade-old false claims about the Obama Administration.' 'Few episodes in our nation's history have been investigated as thoroughly as the Intelligence Community's warning in 2016 that Russia was interfering in the election,' Himes said in a statement. 'Every legitimate investigation, including the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee investigation, found no evidence of politicization and endorsed the findings of the 2016 Intelligence Community Assessment.' Himes referred to a Republican-led Senate report in 2020 that agreed with the 2017 findings of Russian influence. That report was backed by now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio and found 'no evidence' of collusion between Trump and the Russian government in the 2016 election but did find 'irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling.' There have been several other reviews since 2017 that also backed the assessment. Even the CIA report last month that criticized the 2017 assessment as rushed and potentially biased did not dispute the assessment's conclusion that Russia favored Trump in the 2016 election. Himes also seemed to suggest that the report is an effort to distract from controversy rocking the Trump Administration surrounding Trump's links to convicted sex offender and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. 'It's a day that ends with 'y' and Donald Trump desperately wants to change the subject,' Himes said in his statement. Himes told CBS News that he doubted any charges against Obama Administration officials would actually come, saying: 'They won't, because there's not a judge in the land—not a single judge—who will treat this with anything other than laughter that will be heard from the Atlantic to the Pacific.' Himes related the outrage Republicans are now ginning up among their supporters over alleged 'treason' to the conspiracy theories Republicans had previously fanned about Epstein before Trump and his Administration told them the case was closed and to move on. 'This is Epstein all over again.' Read More: Why Trump Can't Put Out the Epstein Fire He Helped Ignite Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Community, told the New York Times: 'This is one more example of the Director of National Intelligence trying to cook the books.' He added that a March Intelligence Community report 'acknowledged that Russia's effort to meddle goes on. That was an assessment under [Gabbard's] watch.' 'Moscow probably believes information operations efforts to influence U.S. elections are advantageous, regardless of whether they affect election outcomes, because reinforcing doubt in the integrity of the U.S. electoral system achieves one of its core objectives,' the annual threat assessment had said. 'It is sadly not surprising that DNI Gabbard, who promised to depoliticize the intelligence community,' Warner said in a statement, 'is once again weaponizing her position to amplify the President's election conspiracy theories.'
