AI-Generated Pro-Spencer Pratt Mayoral Campaign Videos Signal New Political Reality

Viral AI-generated videos created by filmmaker Charlie Curran boost Spencer Pratt's Los Angeles mayoral campaign, demonstrating how synthetic media can rapidly amplify political visibility outside traditional campaign infrastructure.

Objective Facts

Between early May 2026, filmmaker Charlie Curran created and circulated multiple AI-generated videos depicting Spencer Pratt as a Batman-like hero fighting villainous versions of Mayor Karen Bass, Gov. Gavin Newsom, and former Vice President Kamala Harris, with the posts viewed millions of times on social media. Although Pratt claimed the videos were 'fan-made' and denied commissioning them, he retweeted and shared the videos on his own platforms. As of mid-May, the content had amassed 3.9 million views on X, with prominent conservatives including Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, and Matt Gaetz praising the videos. Mayor Bass publicly condemned the videos as part of a 'violent trend,' citing violent imagery, while recent polling showed Bass leading at 30 percent to Pratt's 22 percent and Raman's 19 percent. California's 2025 law requires AI-generated political advertisements to include disclosures, overseen by the Fair Political Practices Commission.

Left-Leaning Perspective

Mayor Karen Bass (D), Los Angeles' sitting incumbent, accused Pratt's AI-generated advertisements of 'taking on a violent trend' in depicting the city as a crime-ridden dystopia, specifically citing imagery of tomatoes being thrown at her or scenes depicting 'drowning me and the governor in a reservoir.' Bass told CNN's Elex Michaelson she found the videos 'scary' and feared they could provoke unstable people, arguing that social media content 'plays into people's desperation' by casting Pratt as a superhero savior when 'the reality is — it never happens.' Samuel Woolley, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh who focuses on emerging technology and manipulation, said Pratt is 'benefiting from the democratization of propaganda and the lack of regulatory oversight by social media platforms,' adding that the content could lead to voters checking out of politics or demanding stricter regulation. Labor advocates in Los Angeles pointed out that political ads historically provided employment for camera operators, actors, and production crews, but Pratt's approach to AI-generated content eliminated these opportunities, sparking conversations about whether the technology represents progress or exploitation of working artists. NBC News reported that many creatives in Los Angeles, a historically progressive city, have expressed distaste for the use of generative AI in campaigns. Semafor reported that Democrats are more conflicted about the use of Pratt-style AI imagery in campaigns—especially in Los Angeles, where it is affecting neighbors—than Republicans are. Semafor noted that if Democrats 'seem to be wringing their hands and worrying about regulation and sensitivity — not making life cheaper and safer, right away — they won't lose arguments to a reality-TV star' but 'to the hyperreality he creates.'

Right-Leaning Perspective

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) wrote on X that the Pratt ad was 'Maybe the best political ad of the year,' while the ad was also highlighted by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), among other prominent conservatives. The Hollywood Reporter documented that the AI-generated ad supporting Spencer Pratt is 'being praised by conservatives as one of the best political ads ever made,' while also acknowledging it raises 'questions about the ethics of using AI to realistically depict political foes without permission in campaign ads.' Republican strategist Tab Berg said the Spencer Pratt video appears more comedic than deceptive, arguing 'The Spencer Pratt spot is exactly what AI should be, which is using innovation and technology to make an interesting ad that is not trying to fool voters.' Eric Wilson, a political technologist for American conservatives, said that while generative AI has allowed politicians to create campaign materials more quickly with fewer resources, 'fundamentals of campaigning haven't changed,' and Pratt's fan-made videos succeed by 'telling a coherent story using heroes and villains.' Wilson noted that Republicans are likelier to use AI in campaign strategies than Democrats, citing polling by the American Association of Political Consultants. A Pat Gray Unleashed podcast described the Pratt video as evidence that 'the political ad game just got flipped upside down by AI,' noting that 'AI is letting outsiders create blockbuster-level campaign videos that actually reach voters and cut through the noise.' Fox News host Laura Ingraham and Elon Musk have endorsed Pratt's candidacy, with Musk retweeting Republican strategist Richard Grenell's assertion that 'anyone in LA who isn't voting for @spencerpratt is a total idiot,' following a familiar pattern of national conservative movement interest in Republican candidates challenging Democratic dominance in Los Angeles.

Deep Dive

Spencer Pratt's viral AI videos represent a watershed moment in political communication, but the story's real significance lies not in the technology itself—which is mature and accessible—but in how effortlessly third-party creative content can now reshape campaign dynamics without traditional campaign controls. As NBC News's Samuel Woolley explained, 'It's a way of speaking the language of memes. And the language of memes is the currency of the internet,' capturing how AI has lowered the barrier to producing attention-grabbing political content. Filmmaker Charlie Curran started making Pratt fan content just nine days before the story gained major traction, demonstrating the speed at which AI-generated videos can accumulate massive distribution across X, the New York Post, and TMZ. Both sides recognize real asymmetries in this space: Republican strategist Eric Wilson noted that Republicans are likelier to use AI in campaigns than Democrats, citing polling data, while President Donald Trump has already set a precedent of heavy reliance on AI-generated memes as political branding. NBC News research showed 'there's more skepticism over the political use of generative AI on the American left than on the right.' The right sees this as conservatives embracing innovation while the left resists; the left sees it as Republicans weaponizing misinformation. California's 2025 law requiring AI disclosure in political ads, overseen by the California Fair Political Practices Commission, has led to requests for additional funding to identify violations, though no formal violations have been issued so far. The Pratt videos were not commissioned by his campaign and carry no disclosure, raising a critical regulatory gap: third-party fan content, even when enthusiastically amplified by the candidate, may fall outside the law's intent while remaining within its technical loopholes. Republican strategist Tab Berg's distinction between 'comedic' versus 'deceptive' AI—arguing the Pratt spot is 'exactly what AI should be, which is using innovation and technology to make an interesting ad that is not trying to fool voters'—offers a potential regulatory framework, but one that depends on subjective judgment about intent and satirical exaggeration. Labor advocates raised a separate concern: the videos eliminate opportunities for camera operators, actors, and production crews, sparking debate over whether AI represents progress or exploitation of working artists. What happens next matters more than what happened: Industry observers will be watching platform responses and enforcement patterns, legal or regulatory moves around deepfake disclosure in political advertising, the distinction between third-party creators like Curran versus campaign-produced materials, and how rapid virality interacts with traditional ad-buy and ballot-window rules ahead of the June 2 primary.

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AI-Generated Pro-Spencer Pratt Mayoral Campaign Videos Signal New Political Reality

Viral AI-generated videos created by filmmaker Charlie Curran boost Spencer Pratt's Los Angeles mayoral campaign, demonstrating how synthetic media can rapidly amplify political visibility outside traditional campaign infrastructure.

May 15, 2026
What's Going On

Between early May 2026, filmmaker Charlie Curran created and circulated multiple AI-generated videos depicting Spencer Pratt as a Batman-like hero fighting villainous versions of Mayor Karen Bass, Gov. Gavin Newsom, and former Vice President Kamala Harris, with the posts viewed millions of times on social media. Although Pratt claimed the videos were 'fan-made' and denied commissioning them, he retweeted and shared the videos on his own platforms. As of mid-May, the content had amassed 3.9 million views on X, with prominent conservatives including Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, and Matt Gaetz praising the videos. Mayor Bass publicly condemned the videos as part of a 'violent trend,' citing violent imagery, while recent polling showed Bass leading at 30 percent to Pratt's 22 percent and Raman's 19 percent. California's 2025 law requires AI-generated political advertisements to include disclosures, overseen by the Fair Political Practices Commission.

Left says: Left-leaning critics, led by Mayor Karen Bass, view the AI videos as part of a 'dangerous' and 'violent trend' that exploits desperation and threatens to displace working artists in Los Angeles.
Right says: Conservatives praise the Pratt AI video as one of the best political ads ever made, viewing it as innovative use of technology that democratizes campaign production and lets outsiders compete with well-funded incumbents.
✓ Common Ground
Both industry observers and political analysts across the spectrum recognize that synthetic media can turbocharge outsider or novelty campaigns, though they disagree sharply on whether this represents progress or poses ethical and regulatory risks.
Both left and right acknowledge legitimate concerns about how AI could be used to manipulate voters, particularly as increasingly realistic deepfake technology becomes more widespread.
Both sides recognize the Pratt video serves as a test case for how California's AI disclosure regulations will be interpreted and enforced as voter influence strategies evolve with technology.
Communications expert Samuel Woolley, cited across outlets, noted that AI videos represent 'a way of speaking the language of memes' and that 'the language of memes is the currency of the internet,' a characterization both sides implicitly accept in discussing the campaign's viral success.
Academic research cited by NBC News's Samuel Woolley indicates that 'there's more skepticism over the political use of generative AI on the American left than on the right,' which both perspectives acknowledge as factually accurate even as they dispute whether skepticism is justified.
Objective Deep Dive

Spencer Pratt's viral AI videos represent a watershed moment in political communication, but the story's real significance lies not in the technology itself—which is mature and accessible—but in how effortlessly third-party creative content can now reshape campaign dynamics without traditional campaign controls. As NBC News's Samuel Woolley explained, 'It's a way of speaking the language of memes. And the language of memes is the currency of the internet,' capturing how AI has lowered the barrier to producing attention-grabbing political content. Filmmaker Charlie Curran started making Pratt fan content just nine days before the story gained major traction, demonstrating the speed at which AI-generated videos can accumulate massive distribution across X, the New York Post, and TMZ.

Both sides recognize real asymmetries in this space: Republican strategist Eric Wilson noted that Republicans are likelier to use AI in campaigns than Democrats, citing polling data, while President Donald Trump has already set a precedent of heavy reliance on AI-generated memes as political branding. NBC News research showed 'there's more skepticism over the political use of generative AI on the American left than on the right.' The right sees this as conservatives embracing innovation while the left resists; the left sees it as Republicans weaponizing misinformation. California's 2025 law requiring AI disclosure in political ads, overseen by the California Fair Political Practices Commission, has led to requests for additional funding to identify violations, though no formal violations have been issued so far. The Pratt videos were not commissioned by his campaign and carry no disclosure, raising a critical regulatory gap: third-party fan content, even when enthusiastically amplified by the candidate, may fall outside the law's intent while remaining within its technical loopholes.

Republican strategist Tab Berg's distinction between 'comedic' versus 'deceptive' AI—arguing the Pratt spot is 'exactly what AI should be, which is using innovation and technology to make an interesting ad that is not trying to fool voters'—offers a potential regulatory framework, but one that depends on subjective judgment about intent and satirical exaggeration. Labor advocates raised a separate concern: the videos eliminate opportunities for camera operators, actors, and production crews, sparking debate over whether AI represents progress or exploitation of working artists. What happens next matters more than what happened: Industry observers will be watching platform responses and enforcement patterns, legal or regulatory moves around deepfake disclosure in political advertising, the distinction between third-party creators like Curran versus campaign-produced materials, and how rapid virality interacts with traditional ad-buy and ballot-window rules ahead of the June 2 primary.

◈ Tone Comparison

The left uses language of alarm ('scary,' 'desperation,' 'superhuman') emphasizing emotional manipulation and instability, while the right employs celebratory language ('incredible,' 'best political ad of the year') emphasizing innovation and access. Semafor noted that Bass's warning that Pratt's social media 'has taken a violent turn' was immediately reframed by conservatives as evidence the videos were working against her, turning her criticism into proof of efficacy.