Is it Mitch or is it AI?

[struggle4progress]

[kimbutgar]

1. My thought also!

[Celerity]

16. It is not AI, see post 15

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221371783#post15

[rickyhall]

2. That's a very good question.

[mwmisses4289]

3. Lol!

[FullySupportDems]

4. Oh, I just saw something from X

I ought to get a link. I don't go there. I was shown the post.

But apparently someone found a photo of McConnell from 2023 that looks exactly like the new one, except for the newspaper. I don't want to post false info so I'll leave it at being a rumor. It would be something if true.

[CrispyQ]

10. The image on the right was a couple of months ago.

[FullySupportDems]

11. I can't make much from that, his expressions are different

We'll see

[CrispyQ]

22. Really? I think he looks very different! Like at least a few years worth of difference.

In the picture on the right, his hair is completely white, his face is puffier, his jowls are droopier, & his skin is gross & splotchy. The jowls would need plastic surgery to fix those.

[FullySupportDems]

24. I didn't mean to disregard your impression

I don't wear reading glasses as much as I should

[CrispyQ]

26. I think it's more that I'm at that age where I notice big changes over short amounts of time.

[FullySupportDems]

30. The only thing in life you can count on is change

No pun intended, I'm not that quick!

[Celerity]

17. No, see post 15. The fake is the so called 2023 pic.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221371783#post15

[Random Boomer]

20. Fake 2003 photos

Someone here on DU posted an obviously fake "2003" photo. There's a lot of garbage flying around.

[badhair77]

5. He looks awfully perky.

[struggle4progress]

6. No matter how long I stare at him, he doesn't move

That's usually not considered a really good sign for a hospitalized old guy

[msongs]

7. amazing how media fall for this without having live video with an independent third party there

[orthoclad]

8. Yeah, typed "statement", weird picture.

No proof at all, but they make it sound like they talked with him.

Oligarch media.

[LessAspin]

9. Graham confirms

It's Mitch

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[LessAspin]

12. All joking and internet sleuthing aside..

This will be easily proved or disproved in time.

A still picture of Mitch McConnell from a hospital chair and a written statement is NOT proof of life or competency.

— Texas Paul (@realtexaspaul.com) 2026-07-12T23:09:25.613Z

[Celerity]

15. You are wrong. The AI pic is the so-called 2023 pic. I have posted on this multiple times.

The new photo is not AI:

https://openai.com/research/verify/



https://sightengine.com/detect-ai-generated-images



https://wasitai.com/



The so-called 2023 photo is an OpenAI construct:

https://openai.com/research/verify/

[hookaleft]

18. So sorry. It fooled me.

[Random Boomer]

21. It's obviously a fake if you look at it critically

The supposed 2003 photo has some immediate tells for a Photoshop and/or AI fake.

If you compare it to the hospital photo of Mitch and his wife, you'll see a strong side lighting source. This would be consistent with an interior setting with a nearby window, such as you would find in many hospital rooms.

The poolside photo, however, has that same strong side light even though they are seated outside on a sunny day. The lighting source would be the sun above. Even if they were sitting in under an umbrella, there would be a diffuse lighting on all sides, not a strong side light.

[hookaleft]

19. How did they do that???

google shows that it was a picture taken in 2023??

[Bluetus]

27. Are we saying that the "2023" photo is actually AI

built from the picture that McConnell's office just released? Obviously the photos have a common origin. All the wrinkles in McConnell's shirt are identical. SO which one is fake?

Isn't there a way to determine if the "2023" photo was actually posted in 2023?

[Hugin]

25. You'd think a US Senator and his wife could afford more than one shirt each.

Maybe the whole point of releasing the photo was to stir the muddy waters.

[Celerity]

29. The so-called 2023 pic (the pool pic) is an OpenAI construct, as I have shown with a link to back that up.

[SoFlaBro]

13. Fuck that turtle-faced crumb bum. He's a shitty MAGA turd. Piss on that fucking turd.

[Buckeyeblue]

23. Regardless. If he is well enough to be in rehab he's well enough for a couple independent sources to visit him

Or even a doctor's statement. A picture of him with his wife and a newspaper don't really tell me anything.

[Brother Buzz]

28. Andy Borowitz would never, ever, publish any AI crap!

Mitch's recovery is really coming along
https://www.facebook.com/reel/849893947979360