Senate Republicans Shredded for Posting Bizarre AI-Generated Video of Schumer: ‘Terrifying New World’
Screenshot via Senate Republicans Twitter
The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the group focused on re-electing incumbent Senate Republicans, shocked many on Friday when it posted an ad that uses a real quote from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), but also relies on AI-generated video of him actually saying it.
“Week 3 of the Schumer Shutdown: ‘Every day gets better for us,'” The Senate Republicans X account posted along with a video of a deepfake Schumer saying the quote repeatedly. There is a small disclaimer in the bottom corner of the video acknowledging that it is AI.
“Schumer thinks playing with Americans’ livelihoods is just a game,” the ad’s narrator says.
The ad plays clips of various people discussing the ongoing partial government shutdown and accuses Democrats of “loving” it.
The use of AI for the ad shocked many, especially media members, considering Schumer’s quote about the government shutdown to Punchbowl News is on the record.
“Every day gets better for us,” Schumer said, adding, “It’s because we’ve thought about this long in advance and we knew that health care would be the focal point on Sept. 30 and we prepared for it … Their whole theory was — threaten us, bamboozle us, and we would submit in a day or two.”
Senate Republicans relying on AI video when they don’t have video of a print quote had some questioning just how quickly deepfakes will begin taking over future elections.
“The Schumer bit is AI generated video — which is disclosed at bottom right corner — but we are at the doorstep of a terrifying new world,” Washington Free Beacon’s Jon Levine wrote on X.
Others questioned the “boundaries” being pushed with the ad and cautioned that politics is facing a “slippery slope” as deepfakes become more convincing.
Democrats are currently demanding an extension of Affordable Care subsidies in order to support a continuing resolution that would fund the government. The shutdown is in its 17th day with no sign of ending soon.
