Trump Sparks Controversy with AI-Generated MedBed Conspiracy Video on Social Media

Donald Trump faced significant backlash on Monday following his sharing of an artificial intelligence-generated video where he promised Americans access to miraculous "MedBed" hospitals, reviving a thoroughly debunked conspiracy theory.

The deepfake video, which appeared on Trump's Truth Social account on Saturday, was formatted to resemble a Fox News segment featuring his daughter-in-law Lara Trump promoting what it called a "historic new healthcare system" from the White House.

In this fabricated clip, Trump appeared to announce from the Oval Office that "every American will soon receive their own MedBed card," supposedly guaranteeing access to "new hospitals led by the top doctors" with "the most advanced technology."

The fundamental issue is that these hospitals simply do not exist. The concept of MedBeds, connected to the QAnon conspiracy movement, refers to fictional medical devices allegedly featuring futuristic technology that believers claim can cure any medical condition from asthma to cancer.

Some QAnon followers even maintain that this supposed "MedBed" technology kept former president John F. Kennedy alive for years following his assassination and has been deliberately withheld from ordinary citizens.

Trump subsequently removed the controversial post without providing any explanation. The White House offered no immediate comment on the matter.

However, an archived version of his post and the video, which contained no indication that it was AI-generated, has been widely circulated across various social media platforms.

"If 'MedBed' technology were real, it would be the greatest medical advance in generations," wrote Matthew Gertz, a senior fellow at watchdog organization Media Matters, on X. "Trump should have to explain why he suggested it was using the channel he makes major policy announcements, and why he deleted it after the fact."

Fox News informed US media outlet The Verge that the fake segment "never aired on Fox News Channel or any other Fox News Media platforms."

"How do you bring people back to a shared reality when those in power keep stringing them along?" questioned Noelle Cook, a researcher and author of "The Conspiracists: Women, Extremism, and the Lure of Belonging."

Trump has a history of promoting conspiracy theories and controversial health claims. Just last week, the president insisted that pregnant women should "tough it out" and avoid the painkiller Tylenol due to an unsubstantiated connection to autism, while also advocating for significant changes to standard infant vaccination protocols.

These claims were refuted by the World Health Organization, which stated that neither Tylenol nor vaccines have been proven to cause autism.