Tim Burchett explains why he strongly supports Congress' ban on stock trading
Knoxville lawmakers have long worked to prevent members of Congress from profiting from information they learn in the line of duty.
- On December 29, U.S. Congressman Tim Burchett shared a misleading AI-generated video of musician Jack White.
- The deepfake video was manipulated using AI to alter White's clip to prevent Trump supporters from hearing his music.
- On Instagram, White criticized Burchett for being fooled by the video and supporting Donald Trump.
U.S. Congressman Tim Burchett drew a scathing response from musician Jack White after commenting on and re-sharing a misleading AI-generated video of the singer.
“Can you believe that an American lawmaker, once a sacred and respected position in our society, would repost an AI-generated video?” White wrote in an Instagram post with a screenshot of the clip. “What kind of joke are we living in now?”
On Dec. 29, Burchett, R-Knoxville, posted a response to an AI-generated video of White addressing Trump supporters and telling them not to listen to his music on X (formerly Twitter). The congressman added a comment comparing White to Wednesday Addams from “The Addams Family.”
Hours after Burchett's X post, White took to Instagram to slam Burchett and President Donald Trump's conservative supporters, saying, “It's really sad how embarrassing our leadership has become.”
Here's what you need to know about the exchange.
What did Congressman Tim Burchett post about Jack White?
In X, Burchett responded to a video from a MAGA account purporting to show Jack White, saying, “Don't even try to listen to my music, fascists.” In response to the video, Burchett posted, “That cute girl from 'The Addams Family' was really ugly and angry.”
This clip is clearly a deepfake, a video that uses AI to manipulate the source material. The clip features footage of White giving his acceptance speech at the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in November. During his seven-minute speech, White referenced stories from when the band was still active, thanked past artists for their inspiration and encouraged future artists to keep working hard.
Although White did not mention Trump supporters in his initial speech, he has been outspoken about Trump and his administration. Ahead of the 2024 election, White slammed the Trump campaign's unauthorized use of “7 Nation Army” in a video to which he responded with the caption, “Oh… fascists, don't even think about using my music.”
As of December 30th, both the fake video and Burchett's post remained public on X, despite the addition of a community note to the original post and calls from other users to Burchett's reply and White's post. Burchett responded to one of the comments and doubled down on the insult.
Jack White's response to Tim Burchett's post
In a post responding to Burchett's insults, White expressed disbelief that a lawmaker from the same state he lives in would spend time of his day reacting to an AI-generated video.
“All of Trump's minions and bad guys like this elected official are cowards who would never say this directly to someone like me or you,” White wrote on Instagram.
White went on to say that the president “lowered the bar” when he took office. “Neither he nor his sycophantic congressmen and women show any decency or dignity, only repeating cheap, childish, grade-school bullying talking points and fake Christian (!) rhetoric,” White's post said.
White wrote, “The great state of Tennessee deserves better than Mr. Burchett, but you and your cult are too dug in and too blind to even realize it.”
Jordan Green covers trending news for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at jordan.green@commercialappeal.com.
