John Reid puts an AI twist on empty-chair debate routine in Virginia’s lieutenant governor race

John Reid, the Republican candidate for Virginia lieutenant governor, said his Democratic opponent’s refusal to debate forced him to produce an AI-generated mock debate that he posted on YouTube.

He said state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi’s rejection of 10 debate invitations in the neck-and-neck race for lieutenant governor was an affront to both him and the voters of Virginia.

“Most Virginians think that’s a prerequisite for running,” Mr. Reid told The Washington Times on Wednesday.

He said that even scandal-scarred Jay Jones, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, didn’t shy away from the debate stage.

“If there was anybody who should have bailed out, it’s probably him, and he did it,” Mr. Reid said of Mr. Jones.

Mr. Jones’ campaign is still reeling from revelations of his text messages that mused about shooting a Republican lawmaker and enjoying seeing the death of his young children.

Mr. Reid said he took the mock debate seriously and didn’t use it to take cheap shots at Ms. Hashmi.

“The worst thing that happened was we didn’t use a flattering photo of her,” he said.

He treated it “just like a real debate,” he said, including using only his prepared notes and completing his responses in a single take.

Ms. Hashmi’s campaign said the debate “gimmick” was anything but real, linking it to recent AI-generated posts by President Trump.

“John Reid’s failed use of deepfakes is a desperate move straight out of Donald Trump’s playbook,” said Ava Pitruzzello, spokeswoman for the Ghazala for Virginia campaign.

“While we appreciate that AI Ghazala did share her vision, like her commitment to public education and reproductive rights — it’s pretty clear, Reid only cares about shoddy gimmicks and not governing,” she said. “Maybe he should focus on voters instead of videos. And hasn’t he gotten in enough trouble online already?”

With voting already underway in the final two-week stretch of the campaign, Mr. Reid said his closing argument emphasizes civility and the ability to reach across the aisle.

“I don’t want our state capital to become like the federal capital, where it’s nonstop political warfare,” he said.

As a gay conservative, Mr. Reid noted that he had dealt with individuals on both sides who were reluctant to work with him.

“I have lived my life in between people who hate me,” he said.

Asked about being linked to pornographic and pro-Nazi posts on the blogging site Tumblr, Mr. Reid called it a “smear campaign.”

A Democrat supporter of his had confided in him the opposition’s plan to “Mark Robinson” him, he said, alluding to the former North Carolina lieutenant governor whose gubernatorial campaign unraveled last year after damaging online posts, allegedly made by him before he entered politics, resurfaced.

As with Mr. Robinson, who is black, Mr. Reid noted a certain irony in efforts to label him a “White supremacist” since he has long been in an interracial relationship.

However, he said there seemed to be an ulterior motive in the left’s hyperbolic attacks.

“The Democrats know exactly what they’re doing,” Mr. Reid said. “They use words like ‘Nazi’ and ‘White supremacist’ because they’re trying to get me killed.”