CNN Host Tries to Equate Spencer Pratt A.I. Ads to Iran Propaganda #Political
On Thursday’s CNN This Morning, host Audie Cornish casually threw Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt’s viral campaign videos into the same bucket as Iranian regime propaganda. Pratt’s offense that led to this comparison? Using A.I.-generated images to lampoon California politicians as Batman villains and dark side force users from Star Wars. Cornish tried to make the absurd comparison only to receive bipartisan pushback from her three fellow panelists.
“From reality TV villain to elected office, we’ve seen this show before,” Cornish started the segment, then played a few seconds from one of Pratt’s A.I.-generated political advertisements. The ad portrayed Pratt as Batman in a burning Los Angeles standing up to comical villains Governor Gavin Newsom, current LA Mayor Karen Bass, and a vodka-swigging Kamala Harris on behalf of the citizens wanting to rebuild their homes after the disastrous wildfires of early 2025 but hindered by California bureaucracy.
Pratt’s own house in the Pacific Palisades was one of the ones totally destroyed by the fires, and according to reports from NBC News and Politico, only about 34 out of 13,000 homes have been rebuilt in the area.
With the panel on CNN This Morning, Cornish drew a comparison between Pratt’s ads and the propaganda of the Iranian regime, which also uses some A.I.-generated videos:
These A.I.-generated ads that have sort of taken off, I mean, we're in a moment, obviously, Iran's A.I.-generated ads have also taken off.
Mike Dubke, President Trump’s former White House Communications Director, immediately interjected laughing, “That's a way to connect Spencer Pratt to Iran!”
To Cornish, Pratt’s ads and Iranian propaganda were effectively one and the same: “Don’t you think that’s the whole point? The Iran propaganda has also gotten people's attention.”
While Dubke conceded that “propaganda is the right word,” he and the other panelists did not assent to Cornish’s absurd claim that the Iranian propaganda was the “same as this” political advertisement.
“Yeah, it's very zeitgeisty,” Elena Schneider, reporter for Politico, said, though unlike Cornish, she did not imply that Pratt was the only political candidate who used or will use A.I.-generated ads:
I mean, I think this is a preview of what we can expect also in a 2028 presidential primary, in which we're going to be confronted with this prospect of nonstop A.I.-generated ads. I mean, that's a real question of how we're going to parse through what's real and not.
In the case of Pratt’s ads versus the Iranian regime’s propaganda, though, the line between “what’s real and not” was clear as day. The Iranian propaganda used A.I. videos of bombed-out buildings and dying LEGO characters to portray the reality that they are willing to sacrifice every last man, woman, and child to keep power; and to claim battlefield victories that were completely fabricated to lower American morale.
On the other hand, Pratt’s advertisements were not meant to convince viewers that he was literally a vigilante, but rather to present to voters his political stance against the administration that effectively fiddled while Los Angeles burned.
As Democrat strategist Meghan Hays said to the rest of the panel, Pratt was just “tapping into how voters feel.”
The transcript is below. Click “expand” to read:
CNN This Morning with Audie Cornish
May 21, 2026
6:51:19 a.m. EasternAUDIE CORNISH: From reality TV villain to elected office, we've seen this show before. Spencer Pratt now taking a page from Trump's playbook. But can he go from being the villain on The Hills to being the hero of the hills? See what I did there?
[Spencer Pratt campaign ad]
CORNISH: His campaign is starting to see real momentum from these fake images. This is an A.I.-generated Batman ad. Pratt, of course, mirroring the showmanship that got President Trump elected. And even Trump’s taking notice.
(...)
6:52:35 a.m. Eastern
CORNISH: Okay, the group chat is back. So, I wanted to talk about this. Number one, because of these A.I.-generated ads that have sort of taken off, I mean, we're in a moment, obviously, Iran's A.I.-generated ads have also taken off. But I remember when Zohran Mam-
MIKE DUBKE: That's a way to connect Spencer Pratt to Iran!
CORNISH: Look at it! Don't you think that's the whole point?
DUBKE: No, no I just-
CORNISH: The Iran propaganda has also gotten people's attention.
DUBKE: We're, yes. Propaganda is the right word and we're-
CORNISH: Yeah! It's same as this!
DUBKE: - we're in that moment right now.
CORNISH: Exactly!
DUBKE: We are in that moment.
CORNISH: But Zohran Mamdani for a time was called the internet's mayor by Wired. And there is something to be said for capturing public attention that way.
ELENA SCHNEIDER: Yeah, it's very zeitgeisty. I mean, I think this is a preview of what we can expect also in a 2028 presidential primary.
CORNISH: Oh, great.
SCHNEIDER: In which we're going to be confronted with this prospect of nonstop A.I.-generated ads. I mean, that's a real question of how we're going to parse through what's real and not. And in the years to come, in terms of electioneering and ad making.
And look, it works because it is eye catching. It's viral. It tells a story. I mean, all these things are valuable ways to run, run, run a campaign.
CORNISH: And even with the sound off they work.
DUBKE: The other interesting part about this is getting people engaged. A number of these ads aren't actually created by the campaign. They're promoted by the campaign.
CORNISH: Right.
DUBKE: But this is almost the equivalent of years ago where you had people doing signs themselves and taking them to sporting events and, you know, just an authentic up swell of support. And that's to me, that's what's interesting about what's happening in New York City, in L.A., and other places is that it is the democratization of the political process.
(…)
6:55:21 a.m. Eastern
MEGHAN HAYS: (…) but he's talking to people. These people haven't been in their homes for over a year. They can't even build. They can't even get permits to do anything. And like that's - that's detrimental. Also, it's an affluent area. So that also plays into there's a lot of money involved that people are really pissed. And I just, I think he's tapping into how people feel.
(…)
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