Paxton's new AI ad puts words in a fake Talarico's mouth. Watch it here
Paxton’s campaign used an AI-generated version of Talarico in an ad criticizing his comments about Christianity.
SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYCredibility rates Yahoo News, which republished this story. The other scores rate the article itself.
The reporting is credited to the USA TODAY Network, an established news organization with editorial standards and author attribution. Yahoo News is hosting the piece, but the article explicitly identifies its USA TODAY origin.
- Track record — USA TODAY Network is an established regional and national news organization.
- Author attribution — The article names Brandi D. Addison and identifies her USA TODAY Network role.
- Transparency — The page identifies the article as originally appearing on USA TODAY.
Quality of the journalism in this article itself — sourcing, evidence, balance — independent of the host site's reputation.
HOW WE SCORE ↗Measures how balanced this specific article is in presenting multiple viewpoints. Higher score = more perspectives included.
- Counterarguments presented — Reports Paxton’s campaign’s criticism and Talarico’s rebuttal and regret about some comments.
- Source diversity — Uses statements from both candidates’ camps and references a poll, but offers few independent voices.
- Omitted context — Provides context for Talarico’s original comments but little additional explanation from Paxton’s campaign about the ad’s production.
Political lean of this article's coverage based on language, topic selection, and framing. 0 = far left, 50 = center, 100 = far right.
- Source selection — Includes Paxton’s campaign’s rationale and Talarico’s response.
- Headline — The headline emphasizes the fake portrayal but accurately reflects the story’s subject.
Republished with credit
Republished from The Detroit News, with credit to the original publisher.
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Ken Paxton’s campaign released an AI-generated ad portraying James Talarico making provocative religious statements, combining fabricated lines with remarks Talarico actually made. Talarico said he regretted some comments and accused Paxton of using them to distract from his record.
Paxton’s ad uses an AI-generated likeness of Talarico to deliver fictionalized statements about God, gender and Jesus, alongside a real remark from Talarico. The article says the ad draws on Talarico’s past comments but presents them as a fictional monologue; a disclaimer notes that some video content was generated by AI.
Talarico said he had been intentionally provocative when describing God as nonbinary and acknowledged making statements he regretted. He also accused Paxton of clipping his comments to distract from Paxton’s record. The two are candidates in the Texas Senate race.
Community verdict
12 VOTESPeople in this story
SWIPE →Senate candidate whose campaign released the AI-generated ad targeting Talarico
Senate candidate targeted by the ad and source of some of the real remarks it uses
Talarico's version of this story ↗
President whose aligned political group committed campaign support for Paxton
Senator defeated by Paxton in the Republican Senate nomination runoff
Part of a bigger story
6 OUTLETSPaxton’s campaign released an AI-generated ad presenting James Talarico through a fictional performance assembled from his past remarks. Left-leaning outlets frame it as a misleading portrayal of Talarico. Center outlets stress the mix of fabricated and real remarks, include Talarico’s criticism, and situate the ad in the Senate race. Right-leaning outlets cast Paxton’s use of Talarico’s past comments as a political counterattack.
- ARTICLES
- 7
- OUTLETS
- 6
- AVG CRED
- 55
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