GOP Senator Dragged Over AI Halftime “Not Like Us” Campaign Video

Borrowing Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” for a political campaign post was always going to get attention. Turning yourself into an AI version of Kendrick at the Super Bowl proved to be a considerably messier way to get it. Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn faced a wave of criticism after posting a 12-second AI-generated video depicting herself performing the Drake diss track during a recreation of Lamar’s 2025 Super Bowl halftime show. Fellow Tennessee Republicans appear as her backup dancers, with Rep. Tim Burchett and Sen. Bill Hagerty among the politicians dropped into the scene.

Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs gets an especially specific AI makeover. The former WWE star appears in his old Kane gear while dancing behind Blackburn, who captioned the post, “Tomorrow. Ready to roll.” She later explained that a county commissioner made the clip, Burchett reposted it, and her team shared it as well.

“You know, there is a county commissioner that made the video and put it up, and I think Congressman Burchett reposted it, we reposted it, and it’s a funsie,” Blackburn told WZTV. “Everybody get out and vote!” Yet, the internet was less charmed. Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger mocked the video on X, while Blackburn’s Democratic opponent in the Tennessee governor’s race, Jerri Green, used it to make her own point about political AI. “When I say please stop using AI to support our campaign, this is what I mean,” Green wrote.

Choosing Kendrick invited an old congressional hearing roaring back into the conversation. In 2007, Blackburn testified at a House hearing on stereotypes and degrading imagery in entertainment, where Master P and David Banner spoke about Hip Hop. Blackburn was openly critical of the rappers’ work, saying some of the lyrics were obscene and asking, “Where and how did society fail you to the point where you choose to write such filth?”

Nearly two decades later, “Not Like Us” was apparently fair game for an AI campaign gag. Moreover, there is another wrinkle. Blackburn has spent considerable time in Washington arguing that artists need stronger protections from unauthorized AI replicas. She co-sponsored the bipartisan NO FAKES Act, legislation designed to give people greater control over AI-generated versions of their voices and visual likenesses.

“AI should empower innovation, not give scammers and online predators a free pass to exploit someone’s voice and visual likeness without permission,” Blackburn said in June after the legislation advanced through the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The campaign video doesn't necessarily fall under the same legal concerns the bill targets, and Blackburn said she did not create it herself. Still, critics didn't have to dig far to spot the irony of watching a senator who once grilled rappers over their lyrics now champion protections for artists’ digital likenesses post an artificial version of herself in Kendrick Lamar’s biggest performance.