By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and members of the Maryland Democratic Party recently called out a political campaign for its use of photos and videos generated by artificial intelligence (AI) and disseminated via social media.
In recent months, the “No Moore” campaign, which is run by anonymous persons via social media and a website, has posted AI-generated photos featuring the first Black governor of Maryland dressed as a clown. The campaign also features AI- generated videos showing the Moore caricature speaking in what some perceive to be a stereotypical Black male voice.
“What we’re seeing from No Moore is what people hate about politics– a dark money, shadowy platform that relies on lies and misinformation to grow their platform,” said Moore, in a statement sent to the AFRO by members of his press team.
Moore was elected in 2022 and announced his bid for re-election on Sept. 9. The gubernatorial election will take place in 2026.
The No Moore group became a Political Action Committee (PAC) this month, meaning they can raise and spend money to support or oppose political candidates and policies. The campaign was launched on the day of the governor’s State of the State address on Feb. 5, bringing attention to and critiquing his record. Since that time, its posts have criticized initiatives that Moore has touted as successes and disparaged his proposed plans for economic growth.
“For months they’ve bent the rules to spread lies about a governor who has created over 100,000 jobs helped bring down violent crime to historically low levels,” said Maryland Democratic Party Executive Director Karen Darkes.
The early days of the No Moore platform appeared to use more graphics, charts and press conference videos than AI-generated images to get their point across. Now, they have turned to AI-generated content that could easily fool some voters.
Some Democrats are claiming that former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) may have ties with the PAC.
“If they’re so proud of their ‘grassroots’ movement, why not put a name beside the work?” asked Joe Francaviglia, who serves as deputy executive director for the Maryland Democratic Party. “It’s because they know what they’re doing to Governor Moore is racist and wrong, and Larry Hogan’s team probably has their names all over it.”
The AFRO reached out to Hogan, but did not receive a response before publication. Hogan teased a potential bid for governor via a Facebook post on Aug. 14, but has not yet officially confirmed that he will run.
Responding to an AFRO inquiry, Minority Whip State Sen. Justin Ready (R-Md.-05) denied affiliation with the group but claimed that the Democratic Party is just trying to distract Marylanders from the governor’s failures.
“This seems like a classic attempt to distract from that record,” said Ready.
The AFRO reached out to No Moore for comment but did not receive a response about the nature of their AI-generated content before publication. However, the campaign has responded to the claims against them via a series of social media posts accusing Democrats of silencing criticism.
“We’ve clearly got Gov. Wes Moore’s attention,” said No Moore in a post on Sept. 23. “Maybe instead of name- calling and smears, he should listen to the majority of Marylanders fed up with his reckless spending, higher taxes and endless fees.”
This issue regarding No Moore’s AI content illuminates heightened concerns around race-based political criticism directed towards Black elected officials and how technology could influence future elections.