Latest news with #Triggeredwith
The Hill
5 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Businessman Nate Morris launches Kentucky Senate bid
Kentucky businessman Nate Morris launched his Senate bid on Thursday in an effort to replace the state's senior lawmaker, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who said he would not seek reelection earlier this year. Morris announced his bid on Donald Trump Jr.'s podcast, 'Triggered with Don Jr.,' telling the president's oldest son he wanted to help 'take out the trash' in Washington. 'I think it's time to take out the trash in Washington, D.C., and bring someone new, somebody from the outside, somebody that's not a career politician and most importantly, someone that's only beholden to the people, not to McConnell cronies and the people that have been occupying this seat through McConnell over the last 40 years,' he said on the Thursday episode. Morris's comments come after months of criticism for McConnell, who has voted against key policies for the Trump agenda while painting himself as a firebrand 'America First candidate.' However, his opponents have attempted to crack the image. 'Nate is the only candidate who didn't support Donald Trump in the 2024 primary — he gave $5,000 to Nikki Haley, championed radical DEI policies, used diversity quotas for hiring, and even hired Obama and Kamala's campaign manager to help run his company,' Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) said in a statement, according to the Louisville Courier Journal. 'Nate Morris is pretending to be MAGA now, but he can't run from all the liberal trash in his past.' Morris is currently slated to run against Barr and former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron in the GOP primary, while Democratic state Rep. Pamela Stevenson has also announced a bid for the senate seat. The state's primaries are set to kick off on May 19, 2026.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Nate Morris announces run for Sen. Mitch McConnell's seat
A Kentucky businessman is throwing his name into the Republican field of candidates to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell, who is retiring at the end of his current term. Nate Morris, chairman and chief executive officer of Morris Industries, announced June 26 on Donald Trump Jr.'s podcast show, "Triggered with Don Jr.," he will make a bid for the U.S. Senate. "I think it's time to take out the trash in Washington, D.C., and bring someone new, somebody from the outside, somebody that's not a career politician and most importantly, someone that's only beholden to the people, not to McConnell cronies and the people that have been occupying this seat through McConnell over the last 40 years," Morris said. Morris, who has never served in public office but has been involved in Kentucky politics, runs a privately held conglomerate in Lexington. According to its website, the company "reimagines the industrial economy while leveraging the power of business to solve some of America's biggest challenges, including the environment and national security." Morris has also worked with Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, with POLITICO calling Morris "a door-opener for Paul with big-money GOP donors." He touted his background as a ninth-generation Kentuckian, saying he and his family have been "fighting and scrapping for everything we have." "Like most Kentuckians, 19 of my family members worked at an auto plant, and I've been able to live the American dream because of how great this country is," Morris said. Morris has taken jabs at McConnell in the past, including in a recent social media post where he criticized the senator for voting against the confirmation of Pete Hegseth as U.S. secretary of defense. He was critical of McConnell during his campaign announcement, saying that McConnell's legacy will be known in Kentucky and around the country as someone who was "sabotaging Trump's agenda." "I look at Mitch McConnell as the final boss for (Trump) to defeat, and I think he's going to do it right here in Kentucky and elect an America First candidate to carry on his legacy in the Bluegrass state," Morris said. Morris joins current U.S. Rep. Andy Barr and former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron who have previously announced they will run in the GOP primary election for McConnell's seat. McConnell had announced in February that he will not seek reelection in 2026. He joined the U.S. Senate in 1984 and served as the GOP's leader in the chamber from 2007-24 before giving up the position to Sen. John Thune of South Dakota. His time as Senate leader is the longest by a member of any party in history. Cameron wasted no time and shared he would be running minutes after McConnell said he wouldn't seek reelection. Barr, who has represented Kentucky's Sixth Congressional District since 2013, announced he would also run for the Senate seat. On the Democratic side, state Rep. Pamela Stevenson launched her campaign in April. She has represented House District 43 in Frankfort since 2021 and has a background as a colonel in the U.S. Air Force. The primaries are set to take place on May 19, 2026, before the general election later that year on Nov. 3. Reach reporter Hannah Pinski at hpinski@ or follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @hannahpinski. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Nate Morris announces bid for Mitch McConnell's Senate seat
News18
11-06-2025
- Politics
- News18
Donald Trump Says All His Children Have A Future In Politics: 'They Were Born Smart'
Last Updated: Donald Trump said, 'I think all of them probably have a future in politics, frankly.' US President Donald Trump =said he believes all of his children may have a future in politics, while outlining his approach to parenting. Asked whether his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., might consider running for president, Donald Trump responded, 'I think all of them probably have a future in politics, frankly." Donald Trump praised each of his children, noting Donald Jr.'s strong political involvement, Eric Trump's role in the Trump Organization and Barron Trump's academic progress. He also acknowledged Ivanka Trump's past government service and Tiffany Trump's academic achievements. 'Don is very good. A good guy. He's an outdoorsman," Donald Trump said, adding, 'Eric has done a fantastic job. Barron is great. He is very tall and good. Ivanka… she's so great. And Tiffany has done really well. She went to a great law school and did very well." Donald Trump Jr. was particularly active during the 2024 campaign, including lobbying for J.D. Vance to be selected as his father's running mate. He currently hosts a political podcast, Triggered with Don Jr., but has stated he has 'ZERO interest in running for office in '28 or anytime soon," while not fully ruling out a future political role. Eric Trump serves as executive vice president and trustee of the Trump Organization. His wife, Lara Trump, co-chaired the Republican National Committee and now hosts a show on Fox News. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, both senior advisers during the first Trump administration, have largely stepped back from politics. Tiffany Trump recently had her first child and maintains a low profile. Barron Trump completed his freshman year at New York University this spring. Donald Trump also discussed his son Barron's college life and the passing of Melania Trump's mother, Amalija Knavs, earlier this year. According to Trump, Barron had chosen NYU in part because his grandmother had planned to live nearby. 'She passed away. She was fantastic. Melania's mother was a fantastic woman. And Melania is a fantastic mother, by the way," he said. 'She loves Barron. He's very tall and he's a good-looking guy." Sharing what he called his formula for parenting, Donald Trump said, 'No drugs, no alcohol, no cigarettes. I also would say don't get tattoos—but I don't say it too strongly." About the Author Mallika Soni When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?" First Published: June 11, 2025, 16:42 IST
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
AI ‘digital twins' are warping political reality, leaving deepfake victims with few options for legal action
Artificial intelligence (AI) is producing hyperrealistic "digital twins" of politicians, celebrities, pornographic material, and more – leaving victims of deepfake technology struggling to determine legal recourse. Former CIA agent and cybersecurity expert Dr. Eric Cole told Fox News Digital that poor online privacy practices and people's willingness to post their information publicly on social media leaves them susceptible to AI deepfakes. "The cat's already out of the bag," he said. "They have our pictures, they know our kids, they know our family. They know where we live. And now, with AI, they're able to take all that data about who we are, what we look like, what we do, and how we act, and basically be able to create a digital twin," Cole continued. Keep These Tips In Mind To Avoid Being Duped By Ai-generated Deepfakes That digital twin, he claimed, is so good that it is hard to tell the difference between the artificial version and the real person the deepfake is based on. Read On The Fox News App Last month, a fraudulent audio clip circulated of Donald Trump Jr. suggesting that the U.S. should have sent military equipment to Russia instead of Ukraine. The post was widely discussed on social media and appeared to be a clip from an episode of the podcast "Triggered with Donald Trump Jr." Experts in digital analysis later confirmed that the recording of Trump Jr.'s voice was created using AI, noting that the technology has become more "proficient and sophisticated." FactPostNews, an official account of the Democratic Party, posted the audio as if it was authentic. The account later deleted the recording. Another account, Republicans against Trump, also posted the clip. In the last several years, numerous examples of AI deepfakes have been used to mislead viewers engaging with political content. A 2022 video showed what appeared to be Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy surrendering to Russia – but the fake clip was poorly made and only briefly spread online. Manipulated videos of President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden later appeared in the run-up to the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election. Based on existing videos, these clips often altered Trump and Biden's words or behaviors. Ai-generated Porn, Including Celebrity Fake Nudes, Persist On Etsy As Deepfake Laws 'Lag Behind' AI-generated images, known as "deepfakes," often involve editing videos or photos of people to make them look like someone else by using AI. Deepfakes hit the public's radar in 2017 after a Reddit user posted realistic-looking pornography of celebrities to the platform, opening the floodgates to users employing AI to make images look more convincing and resulting in them being more widely shared in the following years. Cole told Fox News Digital that people are their "own worst enemy" regarding AI deepfakes, and limiting online exposure may be the best way to avoid becoming a victim. However, in politics and media, where "visibility is key," public figures become a prime target for nefarious AI use. A threat actor interested in replicating President Trump will have plenty of fodder to create a digital twin, siphoning data of the U.S. leader in different settings. Congress Must Stop A New Ai Tool Used To Exploit Children "The more video I can get on, how he walks, how he talks, how he behaves, I can feed that into the AI model and I can make deepfake that is as realistic as President Trump. And that's where things get really, really scary," Cole added. In addition to taking on the personal responsibility of quartering off personal data online, Cole said legislation may be another method to curtail the improper use of AI. Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., recently introduced the Take it Down Act, which would make it a federal crime to publish, or threaten to publish, nonconsensual intimate imagery, including "digital forgeries" crafted by artificial intelligence. The bill unanimously passed the Senate earlier in 2025, with Cruz saying in early March he believes it will be passed by the House before becoming law. The proposed legislation would require penalties of up to three years in prison for sharing nonconsensual intimate images — authentic or AI-generated — involving minors and two years in prison for those images involving adults. It also would require penalties of up to two and a half years in prison for threat offenses involving minors, and one and a half years in prison for threats involving adults. The bill would also require social media companies such as Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and similar platforms to put procedures in place to remove such content within 48 hours of notice from the victim. High School Students, Parents Warned About Deepfake Nude Photo Threat First lady Melania Trump spoke on Capitol Hill earlier this month for the first time since returning to the White House, participating in a roundtable with lawmakers and victims of revenge porn and AI-generated deepfakes. "I am here with you today with a common goal — to protect our youth from online harm," Melania Trump said on March 3. "The widespread presence of abusive behavior in the digital domain affects the daily lives of our children, families and communities." Andy LoCascio, the co-founder and architect of (credited with building the first digital twin), said that while the "Take it Down" act is a "no-brainer," it is completely unrealistic to assume it will be effective. He notes that much of the AI deepfake industry is being served from locations not subject to U.S. law, and the legislation would likely only impact a tiny fraction of offending websites. He also noted that the text-to-speech cloning technology can now create "perfect fakes." While most major providers have significant controls in place to prevent the creation of fakes, LoCascio told Fox News Digital that some commercial providers are easily fooled. Furthermore, LoCascio said anyone with access to a reasonably powerful graphical processor unit (GPU) could build their own voice models capable of supporting "clones." Some available services require less than 60 seconds of audio to produce this. That clip can then be edited with basic software to make it even more convincing. Democrat Senator Targeted By Deepfake Impersonator Of Ukrainian Official On Zoom Call: Reports "The paradigm regarding the realism of audio and video has shifted. Now, everyone must assume that what they are seeing and hearing is fake until proven to be authentic," he told Fox News Digital. While there is little criminal guidance regarding AI deepfakes, attorney Danny Karon says alleged victims can still pursue civil claims and be awarded money damages. In his forthcoming book "Your Lovable Lawyer's Guide to Legal Wellness: Fighting Back Against a World That's Out to Cheat You," Karon notes that AI deepfakes fall under traditional defamation law, specifically libel, which involves spreading a false statement via literature (writing, pictures, audio, and video). To prove defamation, a plaintiff must provide evidence and arguments on specific elements that meet the legal definition of defamation according to state law. Many states have similar standards for proving defamation. For example, under Virginia law, as was the case in the Depp v. Heard trial, actor Johnny Depp's team had to satisfy the following elements that constitute defamation: The defendant made or published the statement The statement was about the plaintiff The statement had a defamatory implication for the plaintiff The defamatory implication was designed and intended by the defendant Due to circumstances surrounding publication, it could incubate a defamatory implication to someone who saw it "You can't conclude that something is defamation until you know what the law and defamation is. Amber Heard, for instance, didn't, which is why she didn't think she was doing anything wrong. Turns out she was. She stepped in crap and she paid all this money. This is the analysis people need to go through to avoid getting into trouble as it concerns deepfakes or saying stuff online," Karon said. Karon told Fox News Digital that AI deepfake claims can also be channeled through invasion of privacy law, trespass law, civil stalking, and the right to publicity. Federal Judge Blocks California Law Banning Election Deepfakes "If Tom Hanks had his voice co-opted recently to promote a dental plan, that is an example of a company exploiting someone's name, image, and likeness, and in that case voice, to sell a product, to promote or to derive publicity from somebody else. You can't do that," he said. Unfortunately, issues can arise if a plaintiff is unable to determine who created the deepfake or if the perpetrator is located in another country. In this context, someone looking to pursue a defamation case may have to hire a web expert to find the source of the content. If the individual or entity is international, this becomes a venue issue. Even if a person is found, a plaintiff must determine the answer to these questions: Can the individual be served? Will the foreign nation help to facilitate this? Will the defendant show up to the trial? Does the plaintiff have a reasonable likelihood of collecting money? If the answer to some of these questions is no, investing the time and finances required to pursue this claim may not be worth it. "Our rights are only as effective as our ability to enforce them, like a patent. People say, 'I have a patent, so I'm protected.' No, you're not. A patent is only as worthwhile as you're able to enforce it. And if you have some huge company who knocks you off, you're never going to win against them," Karon said. Fox News' Brooke Singman and Emma Colton contributed to this article source: AI 'digital twins' are warping political reality, leaving deepfake victims with few options for legal action
Fox News
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
AI ‘digital twins' are warping political reality, leaving deepfake victims with few options for legal action
Artificial intelligence (AI) is producing hyperrealistic "digital twins" of politicians, celebrities, pornographic material, and more – leaving victims of deepfake technology struggling to determine legal recourse. Former CIA agent and cybersecurity expert Dr. Eric Cole told Fox News Digital that poor online privacy practices and people's willingness to post their information publicly on social media leaves them susceptible to AI deepfakes. "The cat's already out of the bag," he said. "They have our pictures, they know our kids, they know our family. They know where we live. And now, with AI, they're able to take all that data about who we are, what we look like, what we do, and how we act, and basically be able to create a digital twin," Cole continued. That digital twin, he claimed, is so good that it is hard to tell the difference between the artificial version and the real person the deepfake is based on. Last month, a fraudulent audio clip circulated of Donald Trump Jr. suggesting that the U.S. should have sent military equipment to Russia instead of Ukraine. The post was widely discussed on social media and appeared to be a clip from an episode of the podcast "Triggered with Donald Trump Jr." Experts in digital analysis later confirmed that the recording of Trump Jr.'s voice was created using AI, noting that the technology has become more "proficient and sophisticated." FactPostNews, an official account of the Democratic Party, posted the audio as if it was authentic. The account later deleted the recording. Another account, Republicans against Trump, also posted the clip. In the last several years, numerous examples of AI deepfakes have been used to mislead viewers engaging with political content. A 2022 video showed what appeared to be Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy surrendering to Russia – but the fake clip was poorly made and only briefly spread online. Manipulated videos of President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden later appeared in the run-up to the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election. Based on existing videos, these clips often altered Trump and Biden's words or behaviors. AI-generated images, known as "deepfakes," often involve editing videos or photos of people to make them look like someone else by using AI. Deepfakes hit the public's radar in 2017 after a Reddit user posted realistic-looking pornography of celebrities to the platform, opening the floodgates to users employing AI to make images look more convincing and resulting in them being more widely shared in the following years. Cole told Fox News Digital that people are their "own worst enemy" regarding AI deepfakes, and limiting online exposure may be the best way to avoid becoming a victim. However, in politics and media, where "visibility is key," public figures become a prime target for nefarious AI use. A threat actor interested in replicating President Trump will have plenty of fodder to create a digital twin, siphoning data of the U.S. leader in different settings. "The more video I can get on, how he walks, how he talks, how he behaves, I can feed that into the AI model and I can make deepfake that is as realistic as President Trump. And that's where things get really, really scary," Cole added. In addition to taking on the personal responsibility of quartering off personal data online, Cole said legislation may be another method to curtail the improper use of AI. Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., recently introduced the Take it Down Act, which would make it a federal crime to publish, or threaten to publish, nonconsensual intimate imagery, including "digital forgeries" crafted by artificial intelligence. The bill unanimously passed the Senate earlier in 2025, with Cruz saying in early March he believes it will be passed by the House before becoming law. The proposed legislation would require penalties of up to three years in prison for sharing nonconsensual intimate images — authentic or AI-generated — involving minors and two years in prison for those images involving adults. It also would require penalties of up to two and a half years in prison for threat offenses involving minors, and one and a half years in prison for threats involving adults. The bill would also require social media companies such as Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and similar platforms to put procedures in place to remove such content within 48 hours of notice from the victim. First lady Melania Trump spoke on Capitol Hill earlier this month for the first time since returning to the White House, participating in a roundtable with lawmakers and victims of revenge porn and AI-generated deepfakes. "I am here with you today with a common goal — to protect our youth from online harm," Melania Trump said on March 3. "The widespread presence of abusive behavior in the digital domain affects the daily lives of our children, families and communities." Andy LoCascio, the co-founder and architect of (credited with building the first digital twin), said that while the "Take it Down" act is a "no-brainer," it is completely unrealistic to assume it will be effective. He notes that much of the AI deepfake industry is being served from locations not subject to U.S. law, and the legislation would likely only impact a tiny fraction of offending websites. He also noted that the text-to-speech cloning technology can now create "perfect fakes." While most major providers have significant controls in place to prevent the creation of fakes, LoCascio told Fox News Digital that some commercial providers are easily fooled. Furthermore, LoCascio said anyone with access to a reasonably powerful graphical processor unit (GPU) could build their own voice models capable of supporting "clones." Some available services require less than 60 seconds of audio to produce this. That clip can then be edited with basic software to make it even more convincing. "The paradigm regarding the realism of audio and video has shifted. Now, everyone must assume that what they are seeing and hearing is fake until proven to be authentic," he told Fox News Digital. While there is little criminal guidance regarding AI deepfakes, attorney Danny Karon says alleged victims can still pursue civil claims and be awarded money damages. In his forthcoming book "Your Lovable Lawyer's Guide to Legal Wellness: Fighting Back Against a World That's Out to Cheat You," Karon notes that AI deepfakes fall under traditional defamation law, specifically libel, which involves spreading a false statement via literature (writing, pictures, audio, and video). To prove defamation, a plaintiff must provide evidence and arguments on specific elements that meet the legal definition of defamation according to state law. Many states have similar standards for proving defamation. For example, under Virginia law, as was the case in the Depp v. Heard trial, actor Johnny Depp's team had to satisfy the following elements that constitute defamation: "You can't conclude that something is defamation until you know what the law and defamation is. Amber Heard, for instance, didn't, which is why she didn't think she was doing anything wrong. Turns out she was. She stepped in crap and she paid all this money. This is the analysis people need to go through to avoid getting into trouble as it concerns deepfakes or saying stuff online," Karon said. Karon told Fox News Digital that AI deepfake claims can also be channeled through invasion of privacy law, trespass law, civil stalking, and the right to publicity. "If Tom Hanks had his voice co-opted recently to promote a dental plan, that is an example of a company exploiting someone's name, image, and likeness, and in that case voice, to sell a product, to promote or to derive publicity from somebody else. You can't do that," he said. Unfortunately, issues can arise if a plaintiff is unable to determine who created the deepfake or if the perpetrator is located in another country. In this context, someone looking to pursue a defamation case may have to hire a web expert to find the source of the content. If the individual or entity is international, this becomes a venue issue. Even if a person is found, a plaintiff must determine the answer to these questions: If the answer to some of these questions is no, investing the time and finances required to pursue this claim may not be worth it. "Our rights are only as effective as our ability to enforce them, like a patent. People say, 'I have a patent, so I'm protected.' No, you're not. A patent is only as worthwhile as you're able to enforce it. And if you have some huge company who knocks you off, you're never going to win against them," Karon said.
