Senate Republicans deep fudged Chuck Schumer, and X didn’t take him down

Senate Republicans shared a fake video of Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader, designed to make it look like Democrats are celebrating the ongoing government shutdown, which has lasted 16 days.

In the deepfake, the AI-generated Schumer repeats the phrase “Every day gets better for us,” an actual quote taken out of context from a Punchbowl News article. In the original story, Schumer discussed Democrats’ health care-focused shutdown strategy and said they would not back down from Republicans’ playbook of threats and “deception.”[ling]”.

The shutdown occurs because Democrats and Republicans cannot agree to pass a bill to fund the government until October and beyond. Democrats are trying to hold on to tax breaks that would make health insurance cheaper for millions of Americans, secure a rollback of Trump’s Medicaid cuts, and prevent cuts to government health agencies.

The video was posted on Friday on Senate Republicans’ X account. According to X’s policies, the platform prohibits “deceptive sharing.”[ing] Synthetic or tampered media that has the potential to cause harm. Harmful content includes media that can “mislead people” or “cause significant confusion about public issues.”

Enforcement actions include removing content, flagging warnings, or reducing visibility. X has not, as of this writing, removed the deepfake or added a warning label — though the video does include a watermark indicating its AI origins.

Schumer’s video isn’t the first time X has allowed deepfakes of politicians to remain on the platform. In late 2024, Company

TechCrunch has reached out to X for comment.

As many as 28 states have enacted laws banning deepfakes of political figures, especially related to campaigning and elections, though most do not ban them directly if they have clear disclosures. California, Minnesota and Texas have banned deepfakes intended to influence elections, deceive voters, or harm candidates.

The latest post comes weeks after President Donald Trump posted fake photos on Truth Social depicting Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, the House Minority Leader, making false statements about immigration and voter fraud.

Responding to criticism of a lack of honesty and ethics, Joanna Rodriguez, communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said: “AI is here and it’s not going anywhere. Adapt and win or clutch and lose.”