"When then-President Bill Clinton and real estate mogul Donald Trump crossed paths at the 2000 U.S. Open in New York, White House photographer William Vasta snapped a picture as the men smiled widely side-by-side in a half embrace. He caught them in mid-motion, with Trump's right arm extended toward Clinton, as if he were coming in for a full hug or finishing a handshake."
"Fast-forward 25 years. Trump is now president and artificial intelligence is muddying reality. A video using the image shows Trump repeatedly patting Clinton's crotch and stomach as both men laugh. But Vasta told PolitiFact the video isn't authentic. "It's totally fake," he said. "From what I remember, no one touched anything.""
"Vasta said the Sept. 9, 2000, still image showed the two men posing for pictures in a private suite at the tennis tournament. They might just have shaken hands or they might have been arranging themselves for a group photo. But the scene in this video is fabricated. "It's easy to misinterpret what is happening in a still image," Vasta said. Vasta said the video "clearly is a derivative" of his still images. The video's lighting matches Vasta's personal lighting style for still photography, he said. Both the photo and the video show the same shadow Trump's hat casts on his face, for example. But in 2000, it was common for indoor videographers to use direct lighting, Vasta said, which means the lighting then captured on video wouldn't show the same lighting as his photographs from that day."
White House photographer William Vasta photographed Bill Clinton and Donald Trump at the Sept. 9, 2000 U.S. Open, capturing Trump with his right arm extended near Clinton. A recent video derived from that still shows Trump repeatedly patting Clinton's crotch and stomach while both men laugh. Vasta confirmed the video is not authentic and said no one touched anything. The original image was taken in a private suite while the men posed for photos, possibly shaking hands or arranging for a group shot. The video's lighting and shadows mirror Vasta's photographic style, indicating the video was created from his images. The manipulated video circulated after the release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein and accompanying speculation about the name "Bubba," which Epstein's brother said did not refer to Clinton.
Read at Poynter
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