Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is taking aim at Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico's Christian faith in a new campaign ad — using artificial intelligence to make it appear as though Talarico is delivering a series of provocative statements about God, Jesus and Christianity.
The 30-second ad, released Sept. 8, features an AI-generated version of Talarico sitting with a copy of a book labeled “The King James Talarico Bible.” The digital likeness is shown writing in the book with a yellow crayon before appearing to read from a fictionalized version of the Bible.
“In the beginning, God was nonbinary, and he wasn't a Christian,” the AI-generated Talarico says in the ad. “And God said, let there be six genders, and there were.” The ad then
portrays Talarico as saying that Jesus was a “radical feminist” who “never asked people to worship him.”
It closes with a statement Talarico actually made in a 2021 podcast interview: “I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity.”
Paxton's campaign describes the ad as an attack on what it calls Talarico's use of Christianity to promote a “radical agenda.”
“James Talarico is weaponizing faith to sell a radical agenda, and he even brags about hating Christianity,” Paxton wrote Tuesday when sharing the ad.
A disclaimer at the bottom of the video says that “certain video content depicted in this advertising was generated by artificial intelligence.”
Watch: Paxton posts AI-generated ad using Talarico's face and voice
What did Talarico actually say?
Paxton's ad draws on several real comments Talarico has made about Christianity, gender and Jesus, but packages them into a fictional monologue delivered by an AI-generated version of Talarico.
Talarico has previously described himself as a “Christian who hates Christianity” and has called Jesus a “radical feminist.” In 2021, while speaking against legislation regulating transgender students' participation in school sports, Talarico said, “God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is nonbinary.” He was citing the Bible and discussing the Hebrew words used for God and spirit in Genesis.
The ad combines those remarks with other statements and presents them as though Talarico is reading them from a Bible.
Talarico says he regrets some past comments
Talarico has acknowledged that some of his past remarks have “missed the mark.”
In a May interview with CBS News' Ed O'Keefe, Talarico was asked about his 2021 comment that “God is nonbinary.”
“I think I was being intentionally provocative with that statement,” Talarico said. “But what it means is that God can't be defined by human categories.”
When O'Keefe pressed him on whether he regretted the comment, Talarico said he had made statements he regretted. Talarico also accused Paxton of using his past comments to distract from Paxton's own record.
“Ken Paxton is intentionally clipping my cringy comments to distract from his career of corruption,” Talarico said.
Paxton and Talarico face off in Texas Senate race
The ad comes as the race between Paxton and Talarico is emerging as one of the country's most closely watched Senate contests.
An Aug. 27 Texas Public Opinion Research poll showed Talarico leading Paxton 48% to 42%, the only August poll to show either candidate ahead by more than its 3.3-point margin of error. The firm is directed by Democratic strategist Luke Warford but describes itself as nonpartisan
Paxton, a Republican and Texas attorney general, won the GOP nomination after defeating U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in a May runoff. Talarico, a Democratic state representative, won his party's nomination and is seeking to become the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from Texas since 1988.
The race has drawn increasing national attention and spending. MAGA Inc., the political group aligned with President Donald Trump, recently committed at least $10 million to support Paxton's campaign.
2026 election dates to know
- Oct. 5: Last day to register to vote.
- Oct. 19: Early voting begins.
- Oct. 23: Last day to apply for a ballot by mail. Application must be received, not postmarked, by this date.
- Oct. 30: Last day of early voting.
- Nov. 3, Election Day. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Nov. 3: Deadline for most mail ballots to be received is 7 p.m. on Election Day. Some properly postmarked ballots may be received by 5 p.m. Nov. 4.
Brandi D. Addison covers weather across the nation as the Weather Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network and contributes to Texas Connect coverage across the state. She can be reached at baddison@usatodayco.com. Follow her on Facebook here.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Paxton's new AI ad puts words in a fake Talarico's mouth. Watch it here
