AI-generated image of buff Mike Rogers goes viral, sparks mockery and imitation

An AI image showing an extra-buff candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan went viral this week, prompting equal parts mockery and imitation.

On Tuesday, an image surfaced on social media of former congressman Mike Rogers walking at the front of a parade of supporters. In the photo, he boasts a superhero-like set of muscles.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Michigan’s next Senator, Mike Rogers!!!” Abby Ronson, a staffer at a campaign vendor to Rogers, wrote on X, in a post that now has 1.7 million views. “LET’S GET TO WORK.”

The image, marked with a “made with AI” disclaimer, soon went viral, as commenters pointed to how it drastically differed from the original 2024 photo it was based on.

“This is gender affirming care,” rival Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow, a Democrat, wrote on X, referring to medical care given to support and affirm people’s gender identity. (In 2024, Rogers signed a pledge that would ban trans athletes from competing in sports leagues corresponding with their gender identity.)

“He prefers to be called Homelander,” former Michigan congressman Justin Amash wrote on X of the AI image, referencing a character in the superhero series The Boys.

“I don’t see the issue,” added Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida in an X post, posting an AI-enhanced image of himself towering over a Republican colleague.

Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet of Michigan posted another spoof, featuring her in a Wonder Woman suit walking in front of a parade.

“Mike and I both wowed at parades recently,” she wrote on X.

The Rogers campaign said its staffers did not make the image.

"She’s not a staffer," it told The Detroit News of Ronson, the original poster.

"Mike doesn’t need AI to frame-mog his opponents,” the campaign added, using online lingo for appearing more physically imposing than someone else.

The campaign nonetheless quickly joined in the online moment, posting an AI video showing a muscled Rogers entering a pro wrestling ring to flames, then ripping open his shirt to reveal an American flag.

“Put me in coach,” Rogers wrote in an accompanying X post.

The Independent has contacted Ronson for comment.

Rogers is running for the seat left open after Democrat Gary Peters declined to seek reelection.

In recent polling, Rogers trails the three leading Democratic candidates: former gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and McMorrow.

AI is becoming an increasingly common part of political campaigns and messaging online from elected officials, and President Donald Trump regularly uses AI to tout his administration and mock his opponents.

Experts told The Independent earlier this year that a paradigm shift is underway in which voters no longer care about seeing fake images from political leaders.

“There’s no sense of, ‘Oh no, we were caught using a synthetically generated image,” Mike Ananny, an associate professor of communications and journalism at the University of Southern California, said. “All gloves are off. People don’t seem to care.”