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The Weird, the Menacing and the False: Tracking the Worst of the 2026 Midterms Ads
Transphobia and AI Abound
With Election Day less than a month out, it seemed like a good time to check in on some of the weirdest and worst campaign ads of the 2026 cycle. There are already some doozies out there. Some make gratuitous use of AI, and a good number involve rampant transphobia, which I guess shouldn’t be surprising. Per the Washington Post, the GOP is leaning particularly hard into AI ads, with Republican candidates and groups behind 80% of the 164 AI spots tracked by the Wesleyan Media Project this cycle. The party plans to spend a whopping $1 billion on ads in the final lead-up to the election, much of it coming from the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc., though it’s unclear how much of a difference that river of cash will make in improving the GOP’s grim electoral prospects.
The campaign spots highlighted below are just a small sampling of what’s out there. If there are other goofy or off-putting ads we should know about in your area, drop us a line at talk@talkingpointsmemo.com
‘Tough Mountain’ Values Involve Shooting People
Chuck Edwards abruptly dropped his reelection bid to represent North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District in August after the House Ethics Committee found that he gave uniquely creepy gifts and poems to young female staffers. So the GOPer tapped to replace him, state lawmaker Jennifer Balkcom, had a narrow window to introduce herself to voters. The vibe she’s going for, apparently, is “tough mountain wom[a]n.”
An ad put out by the National Republican Congressional Committee shows Balkcom sitting beside her mother, identified on screen as “Momma.” “Mom raised us on her own. She taught us to be strong. And when someone broke into our house, she shot ‘em!” “You break into my house, you’re going to get shot,” her mom agrees, smiling.
This is apparently proof that the Balkcom women are fighters, and that the candidate will champion Hurricane Helene recovery funds and lower healthcare costs.
Forced Trans Teen Surgery in Texas
The GOP is pulling out the tired “X Dem candidate is for they/them” line again. In the Lone Star state, Texas PAC, a super PAC linked to Senate Republican leadership, is going after Democrat James Talarico by falsely claiming that he supports “using taxpayer dollars for sex change surgeries on young children.” They’re apparently getting this from Talarico’s vote, as a member of the Texas House of Representatives, against a measure that prohibited gender-reassignment surgeries for children, which is not the same thing as voting to approve the use of taxpayer funds for such procedures.
The ad is misleading and its transphobic message is played out. But at least the AI is amusingly bad. As the Houston Chronicle’s Gwen Howerton describes it, “a Latino boy gets hit with a Transgenderification Beam and turns into a beautiful woman.” The kid ages a good 10 years via the special Animorphs-like transition.
The spot is one of several that seeks to boost Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Senate bid without actually mentioning Paxton at all, which makes sense given how little people like the man. Paxton’s estranged wife, state senator Angela Paxton, who had filed for divorce on “biblical grounds,” alleging that her husband cheated on her, put out an ad urging voters to close their eyes and support the whole GOP ticket. “In a general election, it’s not as much about the individual players on the team; it’s about getting the whole team across the finish line,” she says.
Trump Threatens Us in a Hallway Again
In another 2024 throwback, Trump is literally just releasing a presidential campaign ad he ran that year again — this time with funding from the U.S. government. The black-and-white spot, titled “The Final Battle,” shows a somber Trump walking down a hallway, glowering into the camera. “We will drive out the globalists, we will cast out the communists, Marxists and fascists,” he says in voiceover. “We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country.” Trump’s pledge to get rid of the “warmongers” in our government hits a little differently seven months into the war he personally launched in Iran.
Though the White House insisted this and other pro-Trump spots funded by the government are simply “public service announcements,” not midterms ads, he reluctantly agreed to have his super PAC pay for the rest of them. That of course doesn’t mean he’ll reimburse the government for the $10 million the admin has already spent on these ads, though.
Steve Hilton Manages to be Both Confusing and Horny
Steve Hilton appears to be going for the “all press is good press” strategy in his long-shot bid to become California’s governor. The Republican candidate put out an innuendo-filled ad that confusingly suggests two progressive, lesbian Gen Zers are going to “just try” voting for Hilton.
It depicts two girls with dyed hair and piercings sitting on a bed in front of an LGBTQ flag on the wall, as indie music plays softly in the background. One says “I’ve never done anything like this before. What if my dad finds out?” And the other encourages her to give it a try anyway. As the camera pans to their laps, it turns out that “it” is actually casting a mail-in ballot for the Republican nominee. The ad ends with the music abruptly cutting out and the second girl urging the first to “lick”…the envelope closed. California Republicans and Democrats were quick to denounce the ad as uncomfortable and “weird.” The YouTube comments alternate between calling Hilton a creep and saying he’s made his sexual proclivities clear. My personal fave: “So be gay and vote by mail. Got it.”
Senate Republicans Just Make Stuff Up to Target Sherrod Brown
The Senate Leadership Fund is out with a different anti-trans spot in Ohio, and this one happens to be fully based on lies. As the Cleveland ABC affiliate puts it in the headline: “Woman accusing Sherrod Brown of forcing transgender surgeries isn’t from Ohio, didn’t have procedure as minor.” The ad features social media influencer Soren Aldaco, who blames Brown for forcing minors “like her” to undergo “childhood sex change surgery.” The ABC reporter found that Aldaco is actually from Texas, where she sought a double mastectomy at age 19.
It’s illegal to perform gender-affirming care procedures on minors in Ohio, and Brown has simply said that he thinks families and doctors — not government officials — should be allowed to make medical decisions about their healthcare.
The Classic Crazy Woman Trope, But Make it AI
AI ads are cheap, so candidates in state legislative races, which have less money sloshing around, have embraced them. Take Sen. Michael Lee, who is running to represent North Carolina Senate District 7. His ad, “Bonkers Bichler,” features an AI deepfake version of his opponent, Jessica Bichler, who is a yoga instructor and studio owner, doing yoga poses, meditating, and banging a gong. Because doing yoga means you’re a dang kooky hippie.
The bulk of the YouTube comments criticize Lee for pushing AI “slop,” being weird about a woman’s appearance, and mocking an extremely common form of exercise. “I wish he would spend more timing fixing our water issues and less time making fun of people who do yoga,” one reads.
By Allegra Kirkland
The Darth Vader of Politics
For nearly two years now, I have been extensively covering the various — some outright illegal, some legally questionable — ways the Trump administration has been trampling Congress’ power of the purse. Underneath all the technicalities and legal analysis lies the power dynamic it creates for Congress, specifically for the upper chamber, where most of the deal-making around appropriations and government funding happens.
As the Trump administration undermines Congress’ constitutional power, it’s also fueling the partisan polarization that is already at near historic highs. Bipartisanship has been dropping for some time, and the underlying trust issues between the two sides are growing.
At the core of all it, right now, is President Donald Trump.
Sources and congressional Democrats blame Trump and his admin for eroding the ability of lawmakers to work together on basic legislation, especially when it comes to government funding negotiations. How do you make a deal with someone who will shake your hand, then turn around and break that deal?
If you like pop culture references like me, Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress, put it this way:
“In Star Wars Episode V, Lando Calrissian makes a deal with Darth Vader but Vader breaks the deal,” Kogan told TPM. “In response, Lando says, ‘You said they would be left in the city.’ Then Vader turns to Lando and says, ‘I’m altering the deal. Pray, I don’t alter it any further.’ That’s exactly what Trump does.”
Kogan continued: “He turns around and he says, ‘I know we had a deal. I know it took months and months and months and months to make that deal. I know I looked you in the face and I said, you got a deal. I shook your hand and then I signed it into law. But I’m just going to break it. I’m just going to do whatever I want.’”
By Emine Yücel
Creative License
This was just sent to me.
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) October 7, 2026
The photo was taken at a DMV today in New York City.
Why does the credit card machine at the DMV in Mamdnai’s NYC have the Palestinian flag as the screensaver on October 7th? @ZohranKMamdani disgraceful.
Deliberate and intentional. pic.twitter.com/UZDHOqgnU1
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How Much of This Week’s News Do You Remember?
- Which former speaker of the House of Representatives died last weekend?
- What new gig did former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt land?
- Retiring Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) says the biggest regret of his career in politics is voting to confirm this Trump Cabinet nominee.
Answers below
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Allegra Is Having a Baby
I’m heading out on maternity leave until February! Will be having my second kid. Please send any TV and podcast recs, tips on navigating sibling dynamics, and specific advice on raising two boys to have good politics and emotional intelligence in This Environment to allegra.kirkland@gmail.com
And thanks to Derick and the rest of the team for holding things down at The Weekender until I’m back!
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Priorities!
“Look, $4 gas, $6 diesel is unacceptable. I think we all agree on that, but it’s still not enough to vote for a communist.” – House Majority Whip Tom Emmer
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The Free Press Pushes Rage Bait on the Cornell Case
Bari Weiss’s The Free Press is nothing if not predictable. Launching in the wake of the #MeToo movement and during the rise of what is now, unfortunately, referred to as “Woke 1,” The Free Press (née Common Sense 🙄) assigned itself the mission of protecting free speech. Never particularly subtle that they were really only interested in protecting the speech of the rich and powerful, Bari Weiss and co. quickly developed a formula of inverting reporting on alleged sexual abuse or bigotry by powerful figures to instead cast doubt on the victims. Under the pretense of “just asking questions,” The Free Press recast victims as political actors, either in cahoots with the mainstream media or using the media’s gullibility and/or commitment to wokeness to advance their agenda. This victims’ agenda, per their narrative, was inevitably to punish and silence the powerful, who they hated because the powerful were (here you can play a game of FP Mad Libs): white, rich, capitalists, men, successful, cisgender, conservative, good looking, etc. In the view of the Free Press, these victims weren’t victims at all, but collectively a censorious mob of college students, minorities, and feminists who would gleefully — and had the power to — scratch the First Amendment from the Constitution. Luckily, the “Honest. Independent. Fearless.” journalists at the Free Press weren’t going to let that happen. If, in the pursuit of this mission, they just so happen to become the publication of choice for the billionaire class, well that’s capitalism baby!
It comes as no surprise then that the Free Press is all over the Cornell fraternity rape story. In a classic victim-blame narrative inversion, FP writer Caitlin Flanagan wonders if “Jane Doe” might have been “looking for” something at the Chi Phi fraternity house. More egregious, the publication paid to promote the story on Facebook with the framing that women know that fraternities are bad places but go to them anyway. In other words: there is no fixing fraternities, we should focus on fixing the women. The fact that the Free Press paid to promote this ad suggests they know it’s rage bait. They know how our current media ecosystem works, how to game it for attention, and how to win favor and money from the powerbrokers. Just don’t get fooled about how they work. The words honest, independent, and fearless don’t come to mind.
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Meanwhile, in Europe
Danish artist Jens Galschiøt unveiled a sculpture depicting a naked US President Donald Trump surrounded by golf equipment. It was unveiled on the grounds of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg.
— CNN (@cnn.com) 2026-10-07T11:00:28.964949945Z
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Trivia answers: 1) Dennis Hastert 2) Fox News contributor, of course 3) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
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