Marsha Blackburn Stands By AI Kendrick Lamar Video
Left 50%
Center 0%
Right 50%
1 left · 0 center · 1 right
What happened
On October 13, Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a candidate for governor, posted a 12-second AI-generated video on X depicting her on a football field singing into a microphone to Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us," in the style of Lamar's 2025 Super Bowl LIX halftime show. The clip also featured Rep. Tim Burchett, Sen. Bill Hagerty, state Sen. Brent Taylor, and former Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, and was captioned "Tomorrow. Ready to roll" ahead of the first day of early voting. Blackburn later said a county commissioner made the video, that Burchett reposted it, and that her campaign reposted it, calling it "funsies" and urging people to vote. Democrat gubernatorial nominee Jerri Green objected, saying, "When I say please stop using AI to support our campaign, this is what I mean…"
Sourcing check · Fully on the record · 2 articles
2 of 2 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
- On the record · names a source 2 of 2
- On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Jerri Green
- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 0 of 2
- Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: None cited.
- Credits another outlet 0 of 2
- The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: Each article presents its own reporting.
- Unnamed sources 0 of 2
- The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Oct 14, 17:07 UTC by Daily Wire, naming its source.
- Not counted 0
- Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Right-leaning coverage includes Blackburn's own unfinished deepfake bill; left-leaning coverage does not, and that omission leaves the video looking like a simple campaign stunt. Daily Wire reports that Ted Cruz blocked her NO FAKES Act, which would let people sue over AI copies of a voice or face. The Hill describes her releasing a video that makes her resemble Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl, plus criticism, and does not mention the bill. Knowing she had sought a federal likeness right changes how a reader weighs the same gag.
The second split is how the reaction is named. Left-leaning coverage calls it "some criticism." Right-leaning coverage says the same clip "Set Off Liberals."
None of the coverage answers whether the campaign licensed Lamar's recording for the ad.
Bottom line
The Hill's Blackburn story is an AI Lamar stunt with unspecified pushback; Daily Wire is the version that also reports Cruz blocking her NO FAKES Act.
The receipts — 5 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Sen. Ted Cruz blocked Blackburn's bipartisan NO FAKES Act, which would allow people to sue over AI deepfakes
- Blackburn said a county commissioner made the video, her campaign reposted it, and it was funsies
- Democrat gubernatorial nominee Jerri Green objected to using AI to support a campaign
- Critics accused the campaign of exploiting Black culture for political gain
- The video was posted ahead of the first day of early voting
The Left View
The Hill framed the episode as a GOP campaign using AI so Blackburn would "resemble rapper Kendrick Lamar" at his Super Bowl set, tied that choice to her gubernatorial run, and headlined that the video came "to some criticism." The coverage treated the AI likeness itself, rather than any policy dispute, as the newsworthy core.
The Right View
The Daily Wire framed Blackburn as standing by a viral clip that "set off liberals," treating her third-party-origin account and "funsies" line as evidence it was lighthearted get-out-the-vote content. It attributed to liberals the charge that her campaign was "exploiting black culture for political gain," recorded Green's anti-AI objection, and noted Blackburn's support for AI "guardrails," including the NO FAKES Act establishing a federal intellectual property right in a person's voice and visual likeness, which Sen. Ted Cruz blocked last month.
Our Take (balanced)
The left-leaning account's strongest point is that an AI likeness of Lamar is inherently newsworthy and a fair basis for criticism in a gubernatorial campaign, as The Hill's "resemble" framing and "to some criticism" headline assume. The right-leaning account's strongest point, backed by Blackburn's on-the-record attribution of the clip to a county commissioner and her "funsies" remark, is that the liberal reaction—including the exploitation charge—overreads a joke meant to drive early voting. The central unresolved tension is whether that homage is disposable campaign humor or an objectionable use of a named artist's likeness and culture, and how that claim sits beside Blackburn's own deepfake-guardrail record.
2 sources
More stories
The week's bottom lines, in your inbox
One email a week: the five stories that mattered and what they actually mean. Free.