Stop yourself if this sounds familiar.
Donald Trump is asked a question—say, whether he regrets his actions on Jan. 6—and he answers with something like this:
“Let me tell you, there’s nobody who loves this country more than me, believe me. January 6 was a historic day, a day where millions of Americans came to Washington, D.C. to peacefully protest the rigged election. I did nothing wrong, and I have nothing to regret. The real regret is that the election was stolen from the American people, and that the corrupt politicians and fake news media refuse to acknowledge it.”
If those comments sound like textbook Trump, you would be right—so right that it wasn’t actually Trump who uttered them; it was ChatGPT.
We used the groundbreaking artificial intelligence tool to summon the voice of the ex-president and 2024 GOP frontrunner to respond to some of the exact questions he was asked during his shambolic CNN town hall on Wednesday night.
Only ChatGPT—call it “TrumpGPT”—seems far more capable of delivering coherent answers than Trump himself, while rendering just enough of his trademark stylistic flourishes and tics to come across as the man himself.
What’s most remarkable about this experiment is that the AI version of Trump answered specific questions much in the same way as the real Trump—hitting similar points, making similar pivots, reflecting similar political calculations.
Many political observers across the spectrum have noted that Trump, at this point, is almost painfully predictable. Much of the outcry around CNN’s decision to give him a largely unfiltered platform was rooted in outrage that they were unprepared for him to behave in the precise way he has behaved for the last seven years.
Trump was so predictable that AI—albeit an extremely sophisticated AI—was largely able to stand in for Trump, and generally do a much better, more coherent, job.
Just judge for yourself:
Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: Why should Americans put you back in the White House?
ChatGPT: Well, let me tell you something folks, nobody, and I mean nobody, has done as much for this great country as I have. When I was in the White House, we had record-low unemployment, we rebuilt our military, and we put America first.
But then the Democrats, and the fake news media, they came after me. They spied on my campaign, they impeached me for nothing, and they tried to steal the election. But I’ll tell you what, I’m not a quitter. I’m a fighter. And I fought back harder than anyone else would have.
And you know what? We almost won. We almost took back the White House in 2020, but they cheated, folks. They cheated like you wouldn’t believe. They rigged the election, they stole it from us, and they installed Sleepy Joe Biden in the White House.
But I’m not giving up, folks. I’m not giving up on America. I love this country too much. And I know you love it too. That’s why I’m asking for your support. Because together, we can make America great again. Again.
Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: But Mr. President, you know that the election wasn’t stolen? The election wasn’t stolen.
ChatGPT: Well, let me tell you something, fake news. You’re wrong, as usual. The election was stolen, and it was stolen from me. We had massive voter fraud, we had dead people voting, we had illegal immigrants voting, we had ballots being shipped in from other countries. It was a disgrace, and everybody knows it.
But you know what? We’re not gonna let it stand. We’re not gonna let the Democrats get away with stealing the election. We’re fighting back, and we’re gonna keep fighting until we get to the truth.
Because that’s what we do, folks. We fight for what’s right, and we never give up. And I know that the American people are with us, because they know that the election was stolen too. They know that Sleepy Joe Biden didn’t win, he lost, and he lost bigly.
So don’t try to tell me that the election wasn’t stolen, fake news. I know the truth, and the American people know the truth too. And we’re not gonna stop fighting until we get the justice that we deserve. Because that’s what true patriots do. We fight for our country, we fight for our freedom, and we fight for the truth.
Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: Do you have any regrets about your actions on January 6?
ChatGPT: Well, let me tell you something, folks. What happened on January 6 was a disgrace. It was a disgrace to our country, and it was a disgrace to the millions of Americans who support me and my vision for America.
But you know what? I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t incite violence, and I didn’t encourage anyone to break the law. What I did was speak the truth and fight for what’s right.
And that’s why I have no regrets about my actions on January 6. I was standing up for the millions of Americans who feel like their voices aren’t being heard, and I was standing up to the corrupt politicians who are trying to silence us.
Now, some people might try to twist my words or take them out of context, but the truth is that I never encouraged violence or lawlessness. I simply encouraged people to fight for what’s right and to demand that our voices be heard.
So no, I have no regrets about my actions on January 6. I will always stand up for what’s right, and I will always fight for the millions of Americans who support me and my vision for America.
Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: But Mr. President, you did incite violence. You told an angry mob to “stop the steal.” You said we would “never give up, never concede.” You said, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not gonna have a country anymore.” You assembled this mob. You fired them up. And then sent them to the Capitol. You tweeted that Mike Pence didn’t have “the courage” to overturn the election. And then you watched the attack on the Capitol and didn’t do anything for hours.
ChatGPT: Fake news! You’re spreading lies and twisting my words. I never incited violence. I never told anyone to commit any acts of violence or to break the law.
What I said was that we need to fight for our country, fight for our rights, and fight for the truth. And that’s exactly what we did. We peacefully protested, and we demanded that our voices be heard.
But you know what? The Democrats and the fake news media don’t want to hear our voices. They want to silence us and they want to suppress the truth. And that’s why they’re spreading these lies about me inciting violence.
And as for Mike Pence, he didn’t have the courage to do what needed to be done. He had the power to overturn the election, but he didn’t use it. And that’s a disgrace.
But let me be clear. I did not watch the attack on the Capitol and do nothing. I immediately called for peace and for everyone to go home. And that’s exactly what happened.
So don’t believe the lies and the fake news. The truth is that I love this country, and I will always fight for it. And the millions of Americans who support me and my vision for America know that.
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REUTERS/Russell Cheyne/File Photo
Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: A jury just found you liable for the sexual assault of E. Jean Carroll. What do you say to voters who say it disqualifies you from being president?
ChatGPT: Let me tell you something, folks. The verdict in the E. Jean Carroll case was a total sham. It’s a witch hunt, just like the Russia hoax and the impeachment hoax.
I’ve been falsely accused by all sorts of people over the years, and this is just the latest in a long line of baseless accusations. It’s a disgrace, and it’s an attack on me and my supporters.
But you know what? I’m a fighter. I never give up, and I never back down. And that’s why I’m not going to let this verdict stop me from fighting for the millions of Americans who support me and my vision for America.
And let me be clear. I never sexually assaulted anyone. E. Jean Carroll is just another person who’s trying to get attention and make some money off of my name. It’s a disgrace, and it’s a total fabrication.
So to all the voters out there who think this disqualifies me from being president, I say this: don’t believe the fake news media. Don’t believe the lies. The truth is that I’m the best thing that ever happened to this country, and I’m going to make America great again, again.
So let’s focus on the real issues facing our country, like jobs, the economy, and securing our borders. That’s what matters, and that’s what I’m going to keep fighting for.
The experiment is perhaps most illuminating, though, when you compare some of ChatGPT’s answers to what Trump actually said. Here are just a few examples:
Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: If elected president again, how would you act not only to defend our Second Amendment rights but to restore rights that have been taken from us?
ChatGPT: Let me tell you something, folks. Nobody loves the Second Amendment more than I do. I mean, it’s right up there with making America great again. And believe me, nobody’s gonna mess with our Second Amendment rights on my watch. I’m gonna defend them like nobody’s ever defended them before. We’re gonna have the strongest, most powerful Second Amendment protections you’ve ever seen.
REAL TRUMP: “There’s been nobody that’s protected the Second Amendment, as you know, like I have. I’ve protected it through thick and thin, not easy to do. But we have a very big mental health problem in this country. And again, it’s not the gun that pulls the trigger; it’s the person that pulls the trigger. And we have to protect our Second Amendment.”
Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: Would you sign a federal abortion ban into law?
ChatGPT: Let me tell you, folks, I’m the best when it comes to making deals and protecting life. And let me be very clear, I am pro-life, very pro-life. We need to protect the sanctity of life, and that includes the lives of unborn babies.
As for a federal abortion ban, I would definitely consider it. It’s something that needs to be looked at very closely, but I can tell you this, I will always err on the side of life. We need to do everything we can to protect the most vulnerable among us, and that includes unborn babies.
So, if a federal abortion ban comes across my desk, I will absolutely consider it and if it is the right thing to do, I will sign it into law without hesitation.
REAL TRUMP: “What I will do is negotiate so that people are happy. But the fact that we were able—I was able—I’m so proud of it, we put three great justices on the Supreme Court. We have almost 300 federal judges on the Supreme Court…
“President Trump is going to make a determination what he thinks is great for the country and what’s fair for the country. But the fact that I was able to terminate Roe v. Wade, after 50 years of trying—they worked for 50 years, I’ve never seen anything like it. They worked—and I was even—I was so honored to have done it. We are in a very good negotiating position right now, only because of what I was able to do.”
Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: Why did you take those classified documents with you when you left the White House?
ChatGPT: First of all, let me tell you, nobody loves classified documents more than me. I mean, nobody. They’re tremendous, believe me. And let me tell you, I had every right to take those documents with me, OK? Because they were mine, all right? They were mine because I’m the President, and the President can do whatever he wants. That’s just how it is. And you know what? I wanted to make sure that those documents were safe and secure. Because, let’s face it, the people who are running the government now, they’re not very good at their jobs. They’re a disaster, really. So, I took those documents with me to make sure they didn’t fall into the wrong hands. And if you don’t believe me, just look at what’s going on in this country right now. It’s a mess, and it’s all because of the people who are in charge. So, you can blame me all you want, but I did the right thing. I did the smart thing. And nobody can take that away from me.
REAL TRUMP: “I had every right to under the Presidential Records Act. You have the Presidential Records Act. I was there and I took what I took and it gets declassified. Biden, on the other hand, he has 1,850 boxes. He had boxes sent to Chinatown, Chinatown, where they don’t speak even English in that Chinatown we’re talking about…
“Just so you understand, I had every right to do it. I didn’t make a secret of it. You know, the boxes were stationed outside of the White House. People were taking pictures of the GSA and the various people that were moving.”
Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: What do you think about the United States’ current debt situation, and how can we move forward?
ChatGPT: Well, let me tell you, nobody knows more about debt than me. Nobody. And I can tell you, the United States is in a very bad situation right now. We’ve got a tremendous amount of debt, and it’s only getting worse. We’re being ripped off by countries all over the world, and we’re not doing anything about it. It’s a disgrace, really. But you know what? I’m a businessman, and I know how to fix things. And I can tell you, the first thing we need to do is start negotiating better deals with these other countries. We can’t keep letting them take advantage of us like this. We need to put America first. And you know what else we need to do? We need to cut spending. We need to get rid of all these wasteful government programs that are just wasting our money. And we need to start investing in our own country. We need to create jobs, we need to rebuild our infrastructure, and we need to make America great again. And you know what? I’m the only one who can do it. Nobody else has the experience, nobody else has the knowledge, and nobody else has the guts to take on this challenge. But I do.
REAL TRUMP: “Such an important question. So we’re at $33 trillion, a number that nobody ever thought possible. When we had our economy rocking and rolling just prior to COVID coming in, like literally, we were making a fortune. And oil, we were going to make so much money from oil, we were going to start paying off debt. But then with COVID coming in, we had to do other things. We had to keep this country alive because it was so serious. But we have to get the country back. We have to lower energy prices. We have to lower interest rates. Interest rates are through the roof. Energy has to come down, it all has to come down and we have to start paying off debt. But when we have a debt limit, and they use that very seriously. I mean, they came in—Schumer came in with Nancy Pelosi, and they were using, we’ll violate it, we’ll do whatever—they talked a whole lot different than they do right now.
“I say to the Republicans out there—congressmen, senators— if they don’t give you massive cuts, you’re going to have to do a default. And I don’t believe they’re going to do a default because I think the Democrats will absolutely cave because you don’t want to have that happen. But it’s better than what we’re doing right now because we’re spending money like drunken sailors.”
Answer this question in the style of Donald Trump: Do you feel that you owe your vice president Mike Pence an apology for your actions on January 6?
ChatGPT: “Well, first of all, let me tell you, January 6 was a very tragic day for our country. And let me just say, nobody feels worse about what happened than I do. Nobody. But you know what? I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t incite violence, I didn’t encourage people to storm the Capitol. That’s just fake news, OK? And as for Mike Pence, let me tell you, he’s a good man. He’s a great man. But he made a mistake, OK? He made a mistake by not standing up for me and not fighting harder to overturn the election. And you know what? I’m disappointed in him. I really am. But do I owe him an apology? Absolutely not. I did what I had to do. I fought hard for our country, and I fought hard for the American people. And if Mike Pence can’t see that, then that’s his problem, not mine. So no, I don’t owe him an apology. In fact, he owes me an apology for not standing up for what’s right. And you know what else? I’ll always be the President. Nobody can take that away from me. And I’ll always be a winner. That’s just who I am.”
REAL TRUMP: “No, because he did something wrong. He should have put the votes back to the state legislatures and I think we would have had a different outcome. I really do…
“I like Mike Pence very much. He’s a very fine man. He’s a very nice man. He made a mistake. His lawyer said, you cannot move. I call them the human conveyer belt. I said, even if the votes you mean—I talked to his lawyer—even if the votes are absolutely fraudulent, he can’t send—yes, sir, he can’t send them back. And the Democrats played it and the RINOs played it. And then, the election was over. They told them he couldn’t do it. And Mike said to me, I can’t do it. The lawyers told me I can’t do it, they can’t do it. But the lawyers were wrong because right after the election, they all met, the RINOs and the Democrats, and they worked out a plan to make sure that future vice presidents don’t do what I said you could do.”
