Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman brushed off Democratic criticism Monday, telling party leaders to “get a life” after they lodged a formal complaint over his campaign’s use of AI-generated political ads.
Blakeman said he has no plans to stop running artificial intelligence campaign ads, even after New York State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs accused the GOP hopeful of breaking state election law by failing to disclose the use of AI technology in some spots in a complaint filed with the Board of Elections.
“Everybody knows it’s AI, and it’s funny — so what’s your problem? Get a life,” Blakeman, who currently serves as Nassau County executive, said during a campaign appearance in Flushing, Queens, on Monday.
Blakeman argued the backlash shows the ads are landing with voters. “I don’t know what [the Democrats’] problem is — they’re trying to cheat — I guess because it’s so effective,” he said of the videos, which frequently place his political rivals, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani, in over-the-top and fabricated scenarios.
Recent AI-generated ads from Blakeman’s campaign have shown a digitally created Hochul appearing to rob a bank, play poker and gamble away taxpayer money with Mamdani. Another ad depicts the AI version of the Democrat being offered crack by a dealer she describes as a “nice young man,” while receiving glowing endorsements from illegal migrants, lobbyists and a drug dealer identified as “White Boy Rej.”
Jacobs, however, said there is nothing amusing about the campaign’s use of artificial intelligence. In the complaint sent to the Board of Elections on Monday, he accused Blakeman of “distort[ing] reality” and “misleading” voters by making it appear as though Hochul said and did things that never happened.
“The Blakeman campaign has been proud to convert taxpayer dollars into campaign funds and then use those public matching funds to support campaign activities that violate the Election Law,” Jacobs wrote.
“The State Board of Elections cannot permit a campaign to repeatedly flout the Election Law, and it certainly cannot permit that campaign to pull down public matching funds in furtherance of this subversion,” Jacobs added.
The chairman also called Blakeman’s stance “very Trumpian.”
“Contrary to his assertion: Democrats CAN take a joke, which is why we are so glad that HE is the Governor’s opponent in this upcoming election,” he said in a statement. “Bruce cannot run on his record and is desperate to distract from his abysmal policy positions which will raise costs and reduce services in our state.”
State law does require that a disclosure is required when political commercials use the tech to “materially deceptive media,” such as events or conversations that never took place.
Many of Blakeman’s AI campaign videos do disclose its usage at the end of the commercial, however, not all of his AI ads have included the disclosure, according to a review of his ads by The Post.
The ads are mainly produced by AI content creator Walter Shub, who said he prompts the tech to concoct political satire meant for for politically conservative and pro-Israel audiences.
He was hired by Blakeman earlier this year after the pol saw an AI post depicting Mamdani with his pants on fire and Hochul with a growing nose, Shub told The Post.
It’s unclear how much the Blakeman campaign has spent on the ads.
