Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss, the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, is facing backlash over a resurfaced audio clip in which he appears to suggest that the primary objective of his campaign is to ensure continued U.S. support for Israel — a clip he now claims is a fake.
“There is a manipulated and unsourced audio, with things I never did and never would say, that is nothing more than political disinformation intended to portray me as anti-American,” Moss wrote last week on X. “It peddles in offensive tropes and lies — especially the lie of dual loyalty suggesting that Jews are never fully citizens of or loyal to their home countries.”
The use of artificial intelligence in campaigns has skyrocketed ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. As the technology becomes more sophisticated — with AI tools able to mimic a person’s likeness, including their voice — it has become harder to tell which video and audio clips are authentic. AI has also crept into some candidates’ political advertising, and federal regulation remains murky on the issue.
It’s unclear where the clip of Moss originated and where it was first shared — though it appears to have been online since late last year.
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One of his opponents in the Aug. 4 primary, Aisha Farooqi, reposted the clip to X on July 21, and it quickly picked up traction. It was also shared by the American Independence Project, an advocacy group that opposes foreign influence in U.S. elections, on Aug. 7, and received more than 1.5 million views.
America is my homeland. I am not beholden to AIPAC or any foreign lobby. The entire purpose of my campaign is to make sure every taxpayer dollar serves the American people, not Israel’s genocide.
— Aisha Farooqi (@AishaforMI) July 21, 2026
Give this audio a listen. The choice is clear! pic.twitter.com/TRliHWoVgx
Farooqi responded to Moss’ denials by suggesting a forensic analysis could reveal the truth.
“A simple audio analysis can confirm that it is, in fact, your voice and speech patterns,” Farooqi wrote on X last week.
Moss bested Farooqi in the primary by more than 26,000 votes.
The controversy comes as Michigan grapples with growing divisions among its Jewish voters this midterm cycle, with candidates trying to stake out where they stand on Israel. Given Michigan’s status as a battleground state, a few thousand votes can propel a campaign to victory.
In the clip, the voice identified as Moss says, “The entire purpose of my campaign is to make sure America continues to support Israel.”
“I don’t think it’s wrong for Jews in America to want to put Israel first. America is not our homeland and we have been victims of antisemitism here,” the clip continues.
Track AIPAC, a watchdog group that documents financial contributions made by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, posted the video on Reddit on Nov. 24, 2025. The group has also reshared the video since it started going viral in recent weeks.
Farooqi, the American Independence Project and Track AIPAC did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
Moss has been a vocal proponent of Israel’s “right to defend itself” from threats and frequently speaks out against antisemitism, but he has strongly disavowed the content in the clip. However, his post calling it fake garnered little media attention until he spoke with The Detroit News for a story published over the weekend.
Moss told the newspaper that the clip was “either stitched and edited together or just a complete fabrication.” He also said it is part of a “dangerous pattern of things” he’s experienced during his campaign, where U.S. support for Israel has become a flashpoint.
Hasan Piker, a controversial far-left online personality known for his staunch criticism of the Israeli government, spoke about the clip on a recent broadcast, using it to argue that American Jews’ support of Israel was opening them up to violence.
His comment was met with immediate backlash from people in both parties, including Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan’s Democratic nominee for Senate, who campaigned alongside Piker ahead of the primary election. Progressive candidates have faced criticism in recent weeks for appearing on the campaign trail with Piker.
El-Sayed, who has previously spoken out against antisemitism during his campaign, distanced himself from Piker’s comments on Monday.“I want to be crystal clear, nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople,” El-Sayed wrote in a statement.
“Hasan Piker’s calls for violence against American Jews, and directly naming a Michigan elected official (and future Congressional colleague) Jeremy Moss are unacceptable,” Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Michigan) wrote in a statement Monday. “We should all be calling out this disgusting rhetoric so it loses it’s grip on our politics once and for all. It has no place in Michigan, and no place in our country.”
Moss told Slate he has not yet endorsed El-Sayed because the Democratic Senate nominee is “going to have to demonstrate some serious outreach to Oakland County’s Jewish community.” Moss’ prospective U.S. House district encompasses much of Oakland County, which has the highest population of Jewish voters in the state.
The Michigan state lawmaker is seeking to replace Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens, who chose to run for Senate instead but lost to El-Sayed in the primary by a small margin.
El-Sayed’s Republican opponent in the general election, former Rep. Mike Rogers, denounced Piker’s comments and called on El-Sayed to do the same. Since winning the Republican nomination, Rogers has been courting Jewish voters in Michigan who might be hesitant to support El-Sayed because of his criticism of Israel.
“Absolutely DISGUSTING,” Rogers wrote on X about the clip of Piker. “If Abdul El-Sayed had any courage at all, he would call this out and disavow Hasan Piker once and for all. We’re waiting, Abdul …”
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