James Talarico says Ken Paxton is “lying to the people of Texas” with AI ad that puts “words in my mouth”

September 9, 2026 / 3:41 PM EDT / CBS News

Texas State Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, said Wednesday his opponent, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, is "lying to the people of Texas" with a new AI advertisement that Talarico said puts "words in my mouth."

"When you look at this ad, they are using AI in order to mislead the people of this state, and that is completely consistent with a liar like Ken Paxton," Talarico told CBS News' Ed O'Keefe in an interview Wednesday.

Paxton released the advertisement this week, which portrays an AI-generated Talarico reading a "King James Talarico" bible aloud, with references to comments he's made about God being nonbinary, gender and more broadly, Christianity.

Pressed by O'Keefe on whether the ad represented statements Talarico has previously made, Talarico replied, "Not all of those statements." He argued that Paxton's ad is in line with his "record of lying to the people of Texas," pointing to Paxton's impeachment. The Texas attorney general was impeached by the state House in 2023 on accusations of bribery, obstruction of justice and abuse of the public trust. Talarico also cited a recent endorsement he received from Paxton's…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/healthwatch/