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Voters all over New Hampshire seemingly received phone calls from President Joe Biden in the lead-up to the state’s primary on Tuesday. The call—which came from the phone number of a former New Hampshire Democratic Party chair—seemed to urge people not to vote in the upcoming primary and “save their vote” for November’s general election.
“What a bunch of malarkey,” Biden’s voice stated on the call, echoing one of the president’s oft-used chestnuts. It added, “Voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their question to elect Donald Trump Again. Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday.”
Of course, the phone call and its message never came from Biden, but rather a deepfake powered by artificial intelligence to mimic the president’s voice. The effort seemed to be an attempt to disrupt a write-in campaign for Biden as the president won’t be appearing on the ballot due to the fact that New Hampshire scheduled the primary before South Carolina’s on Feb. 3—which is the first official nominating election for the Democratic Party.