'Trump's pet meme is a LIE, it is made up': Former US marine blames AI for rise of fake news

Captain Barcott is co-founder/CEO of With Honour Action, a bi-partisan organisation that aims to get more veterans into elected office.

Now, he said that Elon Musk's X and Mark Zuckerberg's Meta need to shoulder some responsibility for what he called the spread of fake news on social media.

He told GB News: "Our organisation has screened over 2,000 military veterans that have run for Congress over the last seven years, we've seen a lot of races and we're involved in over 40. What we have seen as a broad trend line over the last seven years is the rise of disinformation.

"What I found disarming about the pet meme that it is a lie. It is made up. This is an environment with the rise of AI and other tech it is going to be increasingly difficult to decipher what is truth.

"What I think is that the most effective leaders, whether they're political leaders or leaders in the military are going to be truth tellers and have an authentic voice that people believe. That is an increasingly important thing to have...I'd separate social media from individuals and owners and the platforms.

"In the United States, I hope this isn't the case in the UK, but the level of suicides has spiked enormously especially among kids. It's just out of control and certainly social media has contributed to that. That's factual. So why isn't there more regulation? The main reason there isn't more regulation is because of polarisation.

"We're so at each other and we only have two parties that we can't get basic things done that make sense. I think the companies need to have a different set of rules particularly to protect children."

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In the presidential debate earlier this week, Vice President Harris said: "I have travelled the world as Vice President. World leaders are laughing at Donald Trump. I have talked with military leaders, some of whom worked with you and they say you are a disgrace."

Now Captain Barcott has said that more Americans think the two party duopoly in the United States is "holding them hostage".

He told GB News: "I think that our rhetoric is just way overblown in the US. Almost 49 per cent of Americans are independents, its at record highs. It's because they're just sick and tired of the two party duopoly that holds them captive. So I thought the debate overall was just disappointing in the lack of substance and the amount of ridicule and putting each other down.

"I would hope that whoever wins this election is going to be a strong statesperson and focuses on maintaining our alliances and our democracy, especially the one with with Great Britain."

Trump has confirmed that he would not participate in another presidential debate against his Democratic rival Kamala Harris ahead of the November 5 election, as several polls showed that she beat him.

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, among voters who said they had heard at least something about Tuesday's debate, 53 per cent said Harris won and 24 per cent said Trump won.

The poll showed that 54 per cent of registered voters believed that the single debate between Trump and Harris was enough, while 46 per cent had wanted a second debate.

A majority of debate watchers said Harris outperformed Trump, according to a CNN flash poll released shortly after the debate. YouGov showed 54 per cent of those surveyed said Harris won while 31 per cent said Trump was the victor.