Conservatives are outraged over fake AI images of Target’s Satanic offerings

- June 03, 2023

Conservatives were already upset about Target over its LGBTQ+-inclusive Pride collection. But now they’re angry over fake AI-generated images that show the store selling “Satanic” clothing.

The images show kids wearing clothes with inverted pentagrams and goat heads and a store display with a red, goat-headed mannequin. The images were created by Facebook user Dan Reese with the AI program Midjourney, Reuters reported. A Target spokesperson told the publication that it “has never sold” the pictured items, and the items aren’t available on the store’s website.

A Facebook page called Christian Patriots posted the images and wrote, “Look at the faces on these children, I feel in my spirit, they even knew there was something satanic with making them be photographed with these clothes on. If you are a Christian and a parent and you shop at target, Lord, have mercy on you.”

Another Facebook user named Linda Vee Sado wrote, “Target has really gone over the edge. Not enough they are making girlie swimsuits for little boys to tuck. They need to go away too.”

Sado’s comment referenced a tuck-friendly adult swimsuit that right-wingers claimed was directed at children. Conservatives have also falsely claimed that Target was selling Satanic-themed apparel created by a transgender designer, leading to death threats against the designer. Employees at one Arizona store kicked out a bigot who called Target’s Pride merchandise “Satanic Pride propaganda.” Religious conservatives and conspiracy theorists have long claimed that LGBTQ+ people and culture are Satanic.

Following complaints and violent confrontations from some customers, Target moved its Pride merchandise to the back of some stores. The decision has drawn criticism from members of the LGBTQ+ community, who accuse the company of caving to right-wing extremists, as both Bud Light and the L.A. Dodgers did recently. (The Dodgers later reversed their decision to uninvite the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence from their Pride Night.)

In a statement, Target said that the company is now focused “on moving forward with our continuing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community and standing with them as we celebrate Pride Month and throughout the year.”

LGBTQ Nation contacted Target for a statement.

This isn’t the first time that Christians have been outraged by fake AI images of a Satanic business. In March, images of a Satanic-themed hotel — supposedly located in Plano, Texas — circulated online. The images seemed to originate from an online clothing brand named Ink Poisoning. A city official confirmed that no such hotel is operating within city limits.