Elon Musk Makes Crude Testicle-Related Retort When Gavin Newsom Calls Out Deepfake Kamala Video

The coarsening of political rhetoric took another turn for the worse Monday morning after billionaire cartoon-caricature Elon Musk shot back at California Governor Gavin Newsom with a “deez nuts” reference because…that’s the way we live now, fellow Americans (sigh.)

At issue is a deep fake video that Musk shared last week, which purported to show Vice President Kamala Harris, who is ostensibly the presumed Democratic nominee for president, saying over-the-top and, well, demeaning things that were created to either mislead or entertain, depending on one’s point of view.

Here’s how AP reported on the video:

A manipulated video that mimics the voice of Vice President Kamala Harris saying things she did not say is raising concerns about the power of artificial intelligence to mislead with Election Day about three months away.

The video gained attention after tech billionaire Elon Musk shared it on his social media platform X on Friday evening without explicitly noting it was originally released as parody.

The video uses many of the same visuals as a real ad that Harris, the likely Democratic president nominee, released last week launching her campaign. But the video swaps out the voice-over audio with another voice that convincingly impersonates Harris.

“I, Kamala Harris, am your Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden finally exposed his senility at the debate,” the voice says in the video. It claims Harris is a “diversity hire” because she is a woman and a person of color, and it says she doesn’t know “the first thing about running the country.” The video retains “Harris for President” branding. It also adds in some authentic past clips of Harris.

Critics of Musk’s video noted that it was illegal to falsely portray a politician saying things they didn’t actually say, and Newsom eventually commented on Twitter, “Manipulating a voice in an “ad” like this one should be illegal. I’ll be signing a bill in a matter of weeks to make sure it is.”

In classic 8th-grade style, Musk shot back at Newsom in reply, saying that he “checked with renowned world authority, Professor Suggon Deeznutz, and he said parody is legal in America.”

So there it is people. That’s where we are in today’s political discourse. Deepfake videos defended with deeznutz “jokes.”

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