While many Millennials and Generation Z have grown tired of the status quo and political theatre leading up to major elections, mudslinging and digging up dirt is still a time-honored tradition that is nearly as old as the U.S. itself. Mudslinging is the act of saying insulting or unfair things about someone specifically for the purpose of damaging their reputation. This is a practice that politicians have engaged in for thousands of years to sway public opinion against an opponent — a tradition carried on into today’s political arena. The U.S. Senate race, featuring Democratic State Rep. James Talarico and Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, is being closely followed throughout the country.
Talarico’s ads include attacking Paxton as one of the most corrupt politicians who was impeached by his own political party. These claims are factual and based on real events. Talarico is now being endorsed by a former employee of Paxton, David Maxwell, on a televised campaign ad. Maxwell previously worked for Paxton and was a key witness in the Attorney General’s impeachment proceedings.
In the opposing corner of the race’s proverbial boxing ring is Republican candidate Paxton. Ads aired by the Paxton campaign include an artificially generated deepfake of Talarico and advertisements portraying Talarico as a Christian who defends transgender rights. While the deepfake is blatantly deceptive, these ads may actually be doing Talarico a favor. They are a compliment to Talarico’s reputation as an advocate for minorities. The Republican campaign’s pathetic attempt to dig up dirt on Talarico has nothing to show for it. They used AI to create a fake ad of Talarico reading a Bible since they could not find any real mud to throw at him.
While the Republican Party nominated a candidate who blatantly commits crimes and gets away with them, it tries to use artificial intelligence and fake images to assassinate the character of Talarico. The Republican party is clueless or purposefully ignorant about what American voters want in their political leaders.
Frankly, it is comical that the Republican party is terrified of voters using their voice to oust the party of criminals to the extent that they are trying to squash Talarico’s grassroots movement, exclusively funded by individual donors.
Many of the attacks on voters rights and the redrawing of district lines have been the Republican’s effort to disenfranchise voters. Like a fairy-tale villain, the Republican party has become known for their corruption and for attempting to silence voters and its opposing politicians . They have aligned their party with criminals and pedophiles, and the only thing they are afraid of is a political campaign that does not take corporate money. The Republican party is grasping at straws as they desperately try to hold on to political power despite the fact that voters across the U.S. are polling largely in favor of democratic candidates.