AI deepfakes blur reality in 2026 US midterm campaigns
NEW YORK, March 28 (Reuters) - As the video opens, Democratic Texas State Representative James Talarico appears to stand in front of a Texas flag, beaming.
"Radicalized white men are the greatest domestic terrorist threat in our country," the U.S. Senate candidate seems to say into the camera. As a voice whispers "white men," Talarico continues: "So true. So true."
But Talarico never filmed that video. Instead, the clip is an AI-generated ad from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the party's Senate campaign arm, featuring a computer-altered Talarico reciting social media posts he wrote years ago. The words "AI generated" show up in easy-to-miss font in the lower righthand corner.
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I have noted a significant ramp-up of pro-trump, anti-liberal posting on social media within the last day or two. Plenty of “AI Women” selfie-style image-with-text posts with “liberals are stoopid, why u vote for them?” intellectual statements.
Exact same formats as the propaganda troll farms used leading up to the 2024 election.
Many are from accouts that have a brief period of activity with few “friends” after registering, then are quiet for a long period, then do nothing but make political posts, and others just spam political content constantly.