The Virginia lieutenant governor’s race took a bizarre turn on Tuesday after the Republican candidate held a 40-minute debate — with his Democratic opponent played by an AI stand-in .

After State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi refused all his requests for a debate, Republican John Reid held his own event against a fake version of Hashmi, who answered prompts in a robotic voice mimicking the state lawmaker.

“It’s unfortunate that a sitting State Senator is either too afraid of her own record or too calculating to face the voters directly,” Reid said in a statement explaining the “debate.” 4

4

“But I will always stand on my own two feet, and in an unscripted format, answer questions from the media and the public. That’s what leadership looks like,” he added.

The event was dubbed, “The Deb

See Full Page