A gay Republican candidate in Virginia running for Lt. Governor, John Reid, has drawn ridicule after staging a “debate” with an AI version of his opponent. His Democratic opponent, state Sen. Ghazala F. Hashmi previously denied his requests for a debate. Hashmi’s AI responses were generated from previous public statements, and Reid appeared on camera alone, answering prompts from a bot while standing behind a plain podium. Reid claimed this was a “fair and balanced program,” done in one take with no rehearsal. Reid previously faced backlash after being linked to a Tumblr account that engaged with N*zi p0rn. Reid has denied being linked to this account, claiming it is a smear campaign. #JohnReid #Virginia #LGBTQIA #AI #USPolitics