(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) CNN issued several on-air apologies after airing artificial intelligence-generated photos of President Donald Trump and activist Laura Loomer, as confirmed by Headline USA through a review of transcripts publicly released by CNN.
The fake photo first aired on the Sept. 13 episode of Anderson Cooper 360, where Cooper displayed an unrealistic image of Trump that appeared exaggeratedly large compared to Loomer at a golf course. CNN aired it for roughly 10 seconds.
Following the broadcast, CNN anchor Pamela Brown admitted on the Sept. 16 installment of The Lead that the network had recklessly included the “digitally altered” image, stating it “should not have been included.”
Brown added, “We regret the error.”
Loomer likely was notified later in the week by her supporters of the fake images and the subsequent apology, accusing CNN of airing the photo in a bid to “demonize me for the crime of flying on his plane to the Presidential debate.”
She then questioned why Cooper deployed a “female colleague of yours to apologize for your defamation,” threatening legal action against him if he did not issue a personal retraction.
Loomer seemed unaware that Cooper had already apologized during the Sept. 16 edition of 360 as seen in a CNN transcript.
“On review, the image turned out to have been digitally altered by a third party and should not have been included. And we very much regret that error,” Cooper said, mirroring Brown’s apology.
Hey @andersoncooper
Why are you sending a female colleague of yours to apologize for your defamation?
If you do not issue a retraction in writing on X for showing fake and photoshopped pics of me and President Trump in an effort to spew a sick, misogynistic, and defamatory… https://t.co/UCTeFJURfh pic.twitter.com/uFbkfcMdfa
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 26, 2024
On the Sept. 21 episode of Smerconish, CNN anchor Michael Smerconish reiterated the apology during a segment that ironically whined about the dangers of misinformation posed by artificial intelligence.
“Speaking of artificial intelligence, CNN aired a number of segments that briefly showed an image of former President Donald Trump and Laura Loomer taken from social media,” he stated.
He reiterated nearly verbatim Brown’s and Cooper’s apologies, claiming, “On review, this image had been digitally altered by a third party and should not have been included. We regret the error.”
Headline USA identified the transcripts after searching the transcript database available through LexisNexis.
