Rep. Thomas Massie lost the 2026 Republican primary for Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District to challenger Ed Gallrein. Now, he is claiming that his own political party used AI to create a fake video to attack his campaign. The 55-year-old claimed that the fake video misled older voters, leading him to lose the election.

The fake AI video allegedly portrays Massie in a romantic relationship with Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. In the video, he is seen checking into a hotel and holding hands with AOC and Omar.

In a viral NBC News clip on X, Massie said:

“They used artificial intelligence to create a video, lifelike video, that showed me checking into a hotel room with AOC and Ilhan Omar and holding hands with them.”

Highlighting that it resonated with older voters, he added:

“It was actually very effective on the boomers.”

Despite losing the election, he claimed that the fake AI video tactics won’t last long, as younger generations are less likely to fall for such manipulated political content. Massie added that the young voters are most likely to verify sources and don’t just blindly trust fake videos.

“But here’s the thing, Kristen, that’s only going to work for a little bit longer.”

“The boomers are going to, you know, leave this country to the Gen X and the Gen Z and the Gen Y and the millennials, and those folks are the ones that I won overwhelmingly.”

“They don’t get fooled by artificial intelligence, and they check the news. They get news sources like from podcasts and other sources.”

The comments came after weeks of controversy surrounding the AI-generated attack against Massie.

According to The Washington Times, the video accused him of “cheating with The Squad on the America First movement” and described the alleged betrayal as “worse than adultery.”

Massie publicly slammed the ad, calling it an “AI-generated lie.” He wrote on social media that campaign operatives were “hoping the older generation won’t realize it’s an AI-generated lie.”

One X user @Porkchop__2007, identified as Tony, supported Massie’s claim that he may have lost the election because of the fake AI-generated video. Tony said he spoke to voters and claimed that several of them cited the AI video as the reason they did not vote for Massie.

Tony said:

“The advertising is working. They’re referencing the ads.”

He then recalled how a woman told him specifically that she didn’t vote for Massie because he was cheating with the party.

“I even had one woman who came out and said, “Yes, I voted for Ed because Massie was cheating with the party, with AOC, and was in some kind of weird cheating relationship. He was committing adultery,” I said, “Are you referencing the ad that was running against him? And she’s like, “Yeah.”

After informing the woman that the image was AI-generated, the woman said:

“I can’t even tell what’s real.”

The controversy has fueled broader concerns surrounding AI-generated political ads as researchers issue grave warnings about misinformation. Studies on aging and misinformation show that highly polished “deepfake” videos can be especially convincing for older Americans.

University of Florida researcher Natalie Ebner told the outlet that AI-generated visuals often appear “more real than real material.”

Ebner said:

“The simpler the information, the easier it is on the aging brain.”