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A video of a Florida governor candidate was AI slop. People spread it anyway.

Poynter · Loreben Tuquero · last updated

The manipulated clip targeting Byron Donalds spread across X with help from politicians, activists and users who ignored warnings that it was fake

Politicians and other X users shared a manipulated clip appearing to show U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, the leading Republican candidate in the Florida gubernatorial race, supporting insider trading as a way to live with luxury.

Chris Nelson, a conservative activist and writer, shared the video on X with the caption, “Byron Donalds says insider trading should ABSOLUTELY BE ALLOWED for members of Congress.” The post got thousands of shares.

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