Former Democratic operative behind fake Biden robocall in N.H.
Attribution 2.0 Generic)
From the What Were They Thinking Department.
Steve Kramer, a veteran political consultant working for a rival candidate, acknowledged Sunday that he commissioned the robocall that impersonated President Joe Biden using artificial intelligence, confirming an NBC News report that he was behind the call.
In a statement and interview with NBC News, Kramer expressed no remorse for creating the deepfake, in which an imitation of the president’s voice discouraged participation in New Hampshire’s Democratic presidential primary. The call launched several law enforcement investigations and provoked outcry from election officials and watchdogs.
A former Dean Phillips consultant, Kramer claims he commissioned the call as an act of civil disobedience to protest the threat of artificial intelligence to political campaigns. He compares himself to Paul Revere and Thomas Paine.
“This is a way for me to make a difference, and I have,” he said in the interview. “For $500, I got about $5 million worth of action, whether that be media attention or regulatory action.”
Plus possible jail time.
Kramer tested his tactic earlier with a voice clone of South Carolina’s Sen. Lindsey Graham.
The calls went to 300 South Carolina likely Republican primary voters. It was a poll that had Graham’s voice ask recipients whom they supported in the GOP primary. Kramer said the response rate from the familiar voice of Graham was four times higher than the response rate to an automated call.
Kramer cannot have anticipated the slaying of a University of Georgia student last week by an undocumented Venezuelan migrant migrant. Republicans in general and Donald “91 Counts” Trump, in particular, will have a field day hyping both stories to drive a narrative of cheating by Democrats and fecklessness on immigration. They’d do it anyway, but these events only help them.
In fact, it is the GOP that has been irresponsible by killing immigration reform legislation and enforcement funding. But people won’t know if the Biden administration does not get ahead of the immigration story and remind the public that the GOP stopped efforts to repair the immigration system to give themselves and Trump an issue to run on.
The Kramer robocall is on him.
And it’s not as if the GOP is not using AI robocalls. I received one while working an election protection shift recently during early voting for the March 5 primary. The voice was convincing:
The caller ID says ‘RNC’.
Robocall? Crank call? Threat?
Me: “Democratic Party Headquarters, can I help you?”
A woman’s voice says she’s with the RNC and asks for Cynthia.
[Pauses]
Me: “This is a county Democratic Party headquarters and there’s no Cynthia here.”
[3 sec. pause]
Her: “I understand, and I will get right to the point.” Launches into pitch for money to defend Donald Trump’s ballot access in Colorado. Would I contribute $25 today?
Me: “You do realize you’re talking to a volunteer manning a Democratic Party headquarters?
[3 sec. pause]
Her: Pitch pivots and continues.
Freaking AI robocall.
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
For The Win, 5th Edition is ready for download. Request a copy of my free countywide GOTV planning guide at ForTheWin.us.