In one clip, an AI-generated voice of Trump will be heard calling Republicans the “dumbest group of voters.”

Claim:

In an audio clip, former US President Donald Trump says Republicans are “the dumbest voting bloc in the country.”

Evaluation:

Context:

An unknown user created this fake Trump audio clip using artificial intelligence (AI).

According to a false online rumor that has been circulating for years, former US President Donald Trump once told People magazine in 1998 that Republicans were “the dumbest voting bloc in the country.”

The full quote was: “If I were running, I’d run as a Republican. They’re the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything Fox News says. I could lie and they’d still believe it. I bet my numbers would be great.”

As we reported in 2015 and 2020, this quote frequently appeared in memes. However, ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, the rumor was given new life.

On July 7, TikTok user @unclesmudge13 created a TikTok photo post that purported to contain an audio recording of Trump reciting the full quote from memes. The post received around 500,000 views.

One user commented under the post: “The most honest words he has ever spoken!!” Another person commented: “This should go viral!”

Other users mentioned artificial intelligence (AI). For example, one user wrote, “And that was said long before AI.” Another person also said, “Yeah, that’s not AI either. I heard that years ago, long before they even started the AI ​​thing.” User @unclesmudge13 replied to this person, “Exactly! I know I heard that on Howard Stern years ago, and I think he said the same thing on Oprah.”

However, the Trump audio clip featured in the TikTok photo post was fake. An unknown user created the fake audio using AI technology. Furthermore, as reported in our previous articles, we have found no evidence that Trump ever said Republicans are “the dumbest voting bloc.”

We’ve contacted the TikTok account to ask where the user got the audio clip and will update this story if we receive a response.

For more information on this rumor, we recommend our January 2024 article, which included a TikTok post with one of the old quote memes.

Sources:

LaCapria, Kim. “Did Trump say Republicans are the dumbest voting bloc?” SniffOctober 16, 2015, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/republicans-dumbest-group-of-voters/.

LaMagdeleine, Izz Scott. “Trump once said Republicans were the ‘dumbest group of voters’?” SniffJanuary 28, 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trump-republicans-dumbest-voters/.

Snopes staff. “Fact check: Trump did not call Republicans ‘the dumbest voting bloc.'” SniffMay 28, 2020, https://www.snopes.com//news/2020/05/28/trump-republicans-dumbest-group-of-voters/.