A new campaign advertisement has emerged that uses artificial intelligence-generated video to depict Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, in a romantic relationship with progressive Democratic women known as the Squad. The ad, produced by a group aligned with President Donald Trump, features a narrator accusing Massie of opposing the president on key congressional votes while showing him on a dinner date and holding hands in a hotel lobby with Representatives Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Content of the Advertisement
The narrator in the ad states, "Thomas Massie, caught in a throuple in Washington. He's cheating with The Squad on the America First movement." The ad further claims that this is "worse than adultery" and constitutes "a complete and total betrayal of President Trump and Kentucky conservatives."
Political Context
Massie is currently facing a primary challenge from Ed Gallrein, a candidate backed by Trump, in the upcoming Republican primary election. Limited polling suggests that Massie holds a narrow lead despite significant spending by Trump-aligned groups against him.
Reactions to the Ad
Representative Omar condemned the advertisement, calling it "despicable" and demanding its removal. In a statement to HuffPost, she said, "Campaign attack ads are generally misleading, but AI-generated ads like this cross a line and should never have been allowed in the first place. This ad must be taken down immediately." A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Massie responded on social media, labeling the ad as "disgusting and defamatory." He wrote, "It reeks of desperation, but they're hoping the older generation won't realize it's an AI generated lie."
Massie's Voting Record
Massie, who is known for his libertarian leanings, has voted against several pieces of legislation that were top priorities for Trump, including a major tax cut bill last year, due to his longstanding opposition to federal budget deficits. Democrats and Squad members have opposed these bills for different reasons. Additionally, Massie went against Trump by advocating for the release of government files related to sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
Legal Concerns
Former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, stated that the advertisement violates a law passed by Congress last year intended to criminalize nonconsensual pornography. The Take It Down Act prohibits the publication of intimate visual depictions or "digital forgeries" of identifiable individuals with the intent to cause reputational harm.
Greene wrote on X, "Thomas Massie NEVER dined, held hands with, or intimately engaged with AOC and Ilhan Omar. Thomas Massie has voted with Trump 91% of the time EXCEPT when he's pushing war, protecting Epstein pedophiles, violating your freedoms with warrantless spying FISA 702, or overspending your money into further ruinous debt!!!"
Campaign Strategy
Gallrein's campaign and its allies have repeatedly suggested that Massie is more aligned with the Squad—younger, highly visible progressive Democrats who are women and minorities—than with his fellow Republicans. Massie told HuffPost in an interview last month that his closest friends in Congress are members of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus. He dismissed the notion that he is intimate with Ocasio-Cortez and Omar, saying, "I don't make enemies with anybody, because on any given day, you're going to need their votes. We don't go out to dinner or have secret handshakes or anything like that."
