Texas official under fire after deepfaked voter video surfaces

Fort Bend County Judge Daniel Wong, a Republican seeking a full term, is facing backlash over a campaign video featuring AI-generated Black “supporters” praising him for help with work, groceries and light bills, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Wong posted the video on Facebook on Friday, then took it down. It depicted six AI-generated Black people. One, wearing a hat with Wong’s name misspelled, says he helped “at my worst time.”

Democratic opponent Dexter McCoy, a county commissioner, called it “reprehensible and disgusting.” He alleged the figures were built from the faces of paid campaign workers who had sent selfies when they checked in at polling sites. Wong’s campaign didn’t answer questions about whether that’s true.

McCoy called the video “racist, vile and flat-out wrong.”

Wong posted a statement saying a Democrat made the video and passed it to his campaign, but offered no evidence. His campaign accused McCoy of playing the “race card.” Wong’s caption thanked “the people who believe in me — and who made this video.”

Rice University’s Liam Mayes said using real people’s likenesses this way would be “deeply unethical.” Texas prohibits deepfakes from airing within 30 days of an election.

County judges in Texas are the principal executive officers of counties, equivalent to the position of "county mayor" or "county executive" in other states. Wong was appointed in April after the prior judge was suspended following a felony conviction. He’s on the ballot Nov. 3.