Senate GOP uses James Talarico’s words against him with AI attack ad
Deprecated: str_getcsv(): the $escape parameter must be provided as its default value will change in /var/www/html/breaking-news/wp-content/plugins/wp-auto-affiliate-links/aal_engine.php on line 361
Senate Republicans’ campaign arm released a new AI-generated deepfake ad aimed at Texas Democratic Senate nominee James talarico, using his past tweets to portray him as extreme and to attack his views on transgender issues, Christian beliefs, and immigration. The nearly 1.5-minute digital spot features an AI-generated narration of Talarico and highlights statements the NRSC says undermine his candidacy, including posts about transgender topics, pronouns on official materials, and remarks on religion. The NRSC argues the ad shows Talarico’s extreme positions to hurt his bid to flip Texas, while the Talarico campaign accuses Republicans of fear-mongering and attempting to mislead voters, saying they are mobilizing working Texans to win in November. The article notes that this is part of a broader pattern of the NRSC using deepfakes to twist Democrats’ quotes, including a previous move against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer during a government shutdown. It also touches on the Texas race dynamics, mentioning that Cornyn and paxton are vying for spot in the GOP, with Talarico having defeated Jasmine Crockett in the primary and facing the GOP runoff winner on May 26.
Senate GOP uses James Talarico’s words against him with deepfake attack ad
EXCLUSIVE — The campaign arm of Senate Republicans is using a new deepfake ad generated by AI to spotlight past tweets from Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico that the GOP hopes will undermine his bid to flip the Lone Star State.
In a nearly 1.5-minute digital ad first seen by the Washington Examiner, an AI-generated Talarico narrates what the National Republican Senatorial Committee calls some of the Texas state representative’s “extreme statements praising transgenderism, twisting Christian beliefs, and advocating for open borders.”
The ad is the latest instance of the NRSC using a deepfake video to turn online quotes from Democrats into video and audio, as it did to criticize Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) during last year’s longest-ever government shutdown.
The Talarico video includes a small watermark disclosing it is AI-generated and features several tweets from the years prior to launching his Senate campaign. Those posts included statements such as “Radicalized white men are the greatest domestic terrorist threat in our country”; “Our office is the first in the history of the Capitol to add pronouns to our official business cards”; and “in my faith, God is nonbinary.”
“James Talarico is the most radical, woke Democrat Texas voters have ever seen, and voters will reject his extreme statements praising transgenderism, twisting Christian beliefs, and advocating for open borders,” NRSC Regional press secretary Samantha Cantrell said in a statement.
The Talarico campaign responded that Republicans and their donors fear for the Democrats’ ability to win a Texas Senate seat and achieve what no member of his party has since 1988.
“John Cornyn, Ken Paxton, and the billionaires who prop them up are scared of James Talarico for good reason: our campaign is building a movement poised to change the politics of this state and take power back for working people,” Talarico campaign press secretary JT Ennis said in a statement. “While they lob stale attacks to mislead Texans, we are uniting the people of Texas to win in November.”
GOP BEGS TRUMP TO ENDORSE CORNYN AS PRESIDENT TEASES DECISION ‘SOON’
Republicans have shone a spotlight on a litany of prior comments from Talarico that they see as a political liability with voters in a state the GOP has dominated for decades. But the party also has yet to secure its own nominee, as Republican leaders in Washington plead with President Donald Trump to endorse NRSC-backed Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in his hotly contested runoff against State Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Talarico bested Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) in last week’s primary and will face the winner of the GOP’s May 26 runoff.
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
