Chris Cuomo found himself in hot water Wednesday after mistakenly sharing an artificial intelligence-generated video of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticizing actress Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle jeans ad as “blatant Nazi propaganda.”
The NewsNation host posted the fake video on X (formerly Twitter), believing it to be authentic. In the deepfake, the AI-generated version of Ocasio-Cortez appears to say that beauty “is defined by the number of victim groups of which you are a member” and that “skinny, attractive, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, cisgender women descend from the slave-daddy oppressors of this nation.”
Despite the obviously mismatched facial movements and audio, Cuomo took the bait. “Nothing about Hamas or people burning Jews’ cars…but Sweeney jeans ad?” Cuomo posted. “Deserved time on the floor of Congress? What happened to this party? Fight for small business…not for small culture wars.”
His post drew immediate backlash, especially from Ocasio-Cortez herself, who spotted the deepfake and responded directly: “This is a deepfake dude. Please use your critical thinking skills. At this point, you’re just reposting Facebook memes and calling it journalism.”
After realizing his error, Cuomo admitted the mistake, writing: “You are correct…that was a deepfake (but it really does sound like you). Thank you for correcting. But now to the central claim: show me you calling on Hamas to surrender or addressing the bombing of a car in St. Louis belonging to the IDF American soldier?…dude?”
The viral AI video appears to be part of a larger political frenzy around Sweeney’s American Eagle ad campaign, which features the tagline “great jeans” — a play on words involving “genes.” Some online commenters accused the campaign of promoting eugenics and neo-Nazism due to Sweeney’s blonde, blue-eyed appearance.
Although no Democratic lawmakers have made public statements about the ad, Republican figures have latched onto the controversy. Former President Donald Trump praised the ad on Truth Social, calling it the “HOTTEST” ad out there and claiming the jeans were “flying off the shelves.”
Senator JD Vance joked on the Ruthless podcast, “My political advice to the Democrats is continue to tell everybody who thinks Sydney Sweeney is attractive is a Nazi.” He added, “They have managed to so unhinge themselves over this thing… Did you learn nothing from the November 2024 election?”
Despite the political uproar, American Eagle released a neutral statement clarifying, “The campaign is about the jeans. Great jeans look great on everyone.” For Sweeney, the backlash has only amplified her public profile—and likely boosted American Eagle’s sales.