Pratt Gains National Attention With Viral AI Videos as 2028 Campaigns Face 12-Death Wildfire Backlash
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jun 1
Pratt Gains National Attention With Viral AI Videos as 2028 Campaigns Face 12-Death Wildfire Backlash
4 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jun 1
Viral AI videos casting Rick Caruso-backed candidate Pratt as Batman and Luke Skywalker have pushed his long-shot Los Angeles mayoral bid into the national spotlight.
Cheap generative AI is helping outsider campaigns produce ads with a few prompts instead of paying crews, actors and stock-footage costs, making high-volume messaging far easier.
Pratt tied one video attacking Mayor Karen Bass to anger over last year's wildfires, saying families of the 12 people who died might feel she "deserved a tomato" in a Joker-themed ad.
Bass has accused Pratt of promoting violence and hate, while Democratic strategists say campaigns that refuse AI risk falling behind if opponents flood voters with hundreds of synthetic images and clips.
Consultants now see California's AI-heavy race as a preview of 2028, when both major parties may face far more pervasive synthetic campaign content.
Can AI be designed to strengthen democracy, or will its use in political persuasion inevitably deepen societal divisions?
Beyond fake ads, how is AI's disruption of society creating new triggers for real-world political violence?
As AI-powered surveillance grows, how can personal privacy and democratic freedoms be protected from government misuse?