Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) on Friday hit back at a Democratic candidate running for her seat in Congress, who released an artificial intelligence (AI) generated ad taking aim at the congresswoman’s widely expected bid for New York governor.
Stefanik slammed the deepfake ad as “blatantly sexist” and “deeply offensive to North Country voters,” criticizing New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and New York State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs for their lack of response.
“Their silence to condemn this misogynistic, AI-generated sexist smear is shameful and despicable,” Stefanik’s office said in a statement. “There is no place in politics to artificially create this derogatory degradation which is offensive, belittling, and confusing to voters especially seniors.”
“The Stefanik team calls on Governor Hochul and NY Democrat Party boss Jay Jacobs to publicly condemn this disgraceful ad and call it out for what it is: a bigoted, sexist AI deep fake that is offensive to voters,” it added.
The video, published Thursday on X by Democratic candidate Blake Gendebien, features a song about the speculation surrounding Stefanik’s potential run for governor. At the end, it notes that the ad was generated “in whole or substantially by artificial intelligence.”
“Elise Stefanik is not fooling anyone,” the post accompanying the video reads. “While she ‘considers’ running for Governor, the people of the North Country lack adequate leadership in Congress. It’s time to change that. Send a farmer to Congress.”
The Hill has reached out to Gendebien’s campaign for comment.
Several sources told The Hill late last month that Stefanik was preparing to officially launch her campaign for New York governor, suggesting it was “not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”
The New York congresswoman’s likely bid for top office in the Empire State comes after President Trump pulled her nomination to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in March.
As AI continues to rapidly improve, deepfakes have become a growing concern. An imposter using AI to pose as Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently contacted at least three unidentified foreign ministers, a U.S. senator and a governor, according to a State Department memo obtained by several outlets.
