On Friday's CNN This Morning, here's how host Audie Cornish explained why she didn't play the audio of GOP Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton's AI-generated ad against Democrat James Talarico:
"One of the reasons I didn't play for you this ad in its audio, is because, at a glance, it looks like Talarico is saying these things.
Visually, you just see the quote, but it actually sounds like it's coming out of his mouth, and I don't understand why that's okay."
Two members of the Group Chat, a former Obama appointee and a Never Trumper, surprisingly schooled Audie.
Elliot Williams, a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General appointed by Obama, explained that the words were quotes from Talarico.
"The problem is that [in] campaigns, virtually anything that's produced by AI is speech, and a lot of it is going to be protected under the First Amendment . . It gets way more complicated, because those are James Talarico's words. If [these] were fabricated quotes of James Talarico saying ridiculous things that he'd never said, they'd have a much stronger legal case for getting that taken down."
Michael Warren of the Never-Trumper website The Dispatch seconded the Williams point: "It's ugly, and it's sort of shameful, but this is politics, and politics has been shameful and ugly for a long time. I don't like this, and I wish that it weren't protected speech, but it seems like Elliott's absolutely right."
Cornish seemed to back off at least a bit in response to Williams' schooling: "I see. So that's why they have the quotes there, to show we got this from somewhere."
— Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) October 2, 2026
A clip was aired in which Talarico complained about the ad "putting words in my mouth." The ad did show Talarico mouthing the words. But as Williams pointed out, the wildly woke words were Talarico's.
Talarico really did say: "God is nonbinary." "God is not a Christian." "There are many more than two biological sexes. In fact, there are six." "Jesus was a radical feminist." "Jesus never asked people to worship him." "I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity."
You can view the entire ad, audio included, here:
Conservatives might suspect that many of the things we hear from liberal media hosts are so outlandish that they must be AI-generated. But, like Talarico's takes on Christianity, they are all too real.
Here's the transcript.
CNN This Morning
10/2/26
6:48 am EDT
AUDIE CORNISH: I want to turn to this, 'cause we are still talking about the campaigns, especially in places like Texas, where right now, if you're a voter in Texas, you have probably seen this attack ad from Texas Republican Ken Paxton. And here's where we begin. This is not James Talarico. It is an AI-generated version of the Texas Democrat. It was created by the Paxton campaign, and Talarico has been saying this about these ads.
JAMES TALARICO: Texans are sick of these AI ads trying to deceive voters, putting words in my mouth, these data centers that are popping up in our communities, soaking up all our water, driving up our utility prices. And Ken Paxton, the reason he's using AI, is that he is bought by the AI industry.
CORNISH: Another Texas Democrat, Vikki Goodwin, filed a police report against her Republican opponent, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. Goodwin says two of Patrick's AI-generated videos of her violate a Texas law against misrepresenting an opponent's identity with the intent to injure a candidate or influence an election.
Texas tried to draw the line around political deepfakes seven years ago, but is that law enough to cover what campaigns can create now?
Back to you very briefly, because we've heard the president say the Justice Department is the way we are going to regulate AI, but the nitty-gritty of the day-to-day of it looks like this. Right?
ELLIOT WILLIAMS: Right. The problem is that any campaigns, virtually anything that's produced by AI is speech, and a lot of it is going to be protected under the First Amendment.
Now, states have different ways they regulate it. When the ad runs, as you see in Texas, they have a 30-day rule that you can't put such ads out within 30 days of an election, where, what state happens, and also, is there a disclaimer? Fifty different, fifty different regulatory schemes.
CORNISH: I know, but when the speech is coming right out of the person's mouth. Like, one of the reasons I didn't play for you this ad in its audio, is because at a glance, it looks like Talarico is saying these things. Visually, you just see the quote, but it actually sounds like it's coming out of his mouth, and I don't understand why that's okay.
WILLIAMS: It gets way more complicated, because those are James Talarico's words --
CORNISH: I see. So that's why they have the quotes there, to show we got this from somewhere.
WILLIAMS: Absolutely. If this were fabricated quotes of James Talarico saying ridiculous things that he'd never said, they have a much stronger legal case for getting that taken down.
MICHAEL WARREN: No. No, I agree. It's ugly, and it's sort of shameful, but this is politics, and politics has been shameful and ugly for a long time. I don't like this, and I wish that it weren't protected speech, but it seems like Elliott's absolutely right.
