Chris Cuomo shares watermarked deepfake video of AOC
NewsNation host Chris Cuomo shared a watermarked AI-generated deepfake video depicting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the House floor, then offered only a grudging apology and continued to attack her over unrelated political matters when corrected.
What happened
On Wednesday, Chris Cuomo, a host on NewsNation, shared a video on Instagram that was prominently watermarked as a 'deepfake' video created using AI technology. The video depicted a fake Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arguing on the floor of Congress that a Sydney Sweeney advertisement for jeans was racist.
Cuomo commented on the video with criticism of Ocasio-Cortez regarding other political issues. Ocasio-Cortez quickly responded that the video was a deepfake and called on Cuomo to use his critical thinking skills. Cuomo deleted the post but continued to argue with Ocasio-Cortez on social media and later on his NewsNation show, offering only a half-hearted apology while defending his original criticism and raising unrelated political grievances.
Reported impact
Cuomo's sharing and initial promotion of the clearly marked deepfake video, followed by his dismissive response to correction, spread misinformation to his followers and demonstrated poor media judgment by a television news host.
Index analysis
The deepfake video was prominently watermarked as fabricated content, yet Cuomo shared it as if it represented genuine remarks by Ocasio-Cortez. His response to being corrected—including arguing that the deepfake 'really does sound like you'—showed a failure to properly evaluate content before sharing and a reluctance to genuinely acknowledge the error.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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