Veteran journalist Chris Cuomo appears to have mixed up AOC with AI-generated content.
At News Nation, anchors were left amused after they aired a Deepfark video where the progressive representative criticized Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle campaign, labeling it “Nazi propaganda.”
Cuomo shared the clip on his X account, commenting on Sweeney’s photo shoot while somewhat awkwardly referencing female body parts during a discussion from Congress.
In his accompanying post, Cuomo, seemingly unaware that it was AI-generated, accused the Democrats of misallocating their focus and resources.
“There’s nothing about Hamas or the acts against Jewish cars, but ads for Sweeney Jeans? Was congressional time really spent on this? What’s up with this party? Fighting for small businesses… not a minor culture war,” he stated.
He failed to notice the clear marking that indicated the video was “100% parody made with AI.”
Adding to the confusion, Cuomo and the anchors overlooked the fact that Congress wasn’t even in session.
The real Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quickly responded, calling out Cuomo. “This is a Deepfark creation. Use some critical thinking. At this point, you’re just resharing Facebook memes and dubbing them journalism,” she commented on his post.
Sweeney’s campaign cleverly plays on denim and genetics, humorously stating she has “great jeans.” This sparked a heated online debate among various commentators and social media users.
After posting the misleading clip, Cuomo eventually recognized his mistake and deleted the original post.
However, instead of a straightforward apology, he redirected his attention to his prior criticisms involving the Israeli-Hamas conflict.
“You are right… it was a deepfake (but it does sound like you). But let’s not overlook the main point: do you call Hamas about their actions or the cars set ablaze in St. Louis that belonged to American soldiers?” he questioned.
Cuomo mentioned a recent incident in Clayton, Missouri, where multiple vehicles outside the home of a former Israeli soldier were vandalized and set on fire, now being investigated as hate crimes.
In the wake of the October 7 attack, lawmakers critical of Israel’s military actions in Gaza faced backlash.
Ocasio-Cortez retorted, “You seem to be having trouble crafting an apology. Need assistance? Maybe reach out to someone,” to which Cuomo admitted he was wrong and humorously remarked how she had managed to return his earlier jab.
Yet, he continued to assert that lawmakers were misguided in their responses, particularly regarding the Clayton incident, insisting, “We should call Hamas to end the war they initiated.”
Despite his attempts to deflect attention, Cuomo was widely ridiculed online.
Former CNN host Piers Morgan suggested that Cuomo should concentrate more on identifying fake content rather than personal disputes. “Oh dear,” he wrote, adding some laughing emojis.
Cuomo replied to Morgan, saying, “You caught me… I got duped by that silly clip, but I won’t block you.”
Tim Miller from the “Never Trump” publication raised alarms about the implications of a news anchor being fooled by a video marked as parody, questioning its impact on the future of social media and AI.
This article is pending comments from Cuomo, Ocasio-Cortez, and NewsNation.
Back in June, Cuomo criticized Ocasio-Cortez, labeling her as “confusing,” following her endorsement of Zoran Mamdani, a candidate who defeated his brother in New York City’s Democratic primary.
