Never-Trumper and Biden voter Michael Steele used his turn filling in for Jen Psaki on the July 30, 2026, edition of The Briefing to accuse Elon Musk of fighting for the ability to digitally undress people without their consent.
He then immediately tied that accusation to Musk’s political spending, portraying him as the same person planning to pour more than $100 million into an effort to help Republicans win in November.
The segment’s framing was clear: ridicule Musk, portray him as toxic, and suggest that Republicans are desperate for help from a polarizing figure.
That is not a fair description of the lawsuit.
xAI is suing because Minnesota’s law goes far beyond stopping harmful, nonconsensual deepfakes and restricts legitimate, constitutionally protected AI image editing.
During the segment, Steele told viewers:
“Minnesota’s state legislature passed a law banning AI tools that let users generate sexually explicit images of people without their consent. Now Musk and his company are fighting that law.”
He then added:
“That’s the kind of thing Elon Musk is focused on right now—overturning laws that stop his AI robots from undressing you on the internet.”
That framing makes it sound as though xAI filed a lawsuit demanding the right to create nonconsensual fake pornography.
But Steele left out the most important part of the story.
Minnesota’s Law Is Not Limited to Nonconsensual Images
Minnesota’s new law is commonly described as a ban on AI tools that create sexually explicit images without consent. But Steele failed to explain that the law itself is not limited to nonconsensual images.
The law is written so expansively that it could also restrict consensual, private, and constitutionally protected AI image editing—including when an adult consented to the image’s creation or created the image of himself or herself.
xAI argues that the law could apply when:
- An adult knowingly agrees to have an image altered.
- Someone edits a photograph of himself or herself.
- An image is created privately and never distributed.
- An image is artistic, satirical, educational, political, medical, scientific, or religious.
- A technology company prohibits abusive conduct and installs safeguards, but a user manages to evade those protections.
xAI also points out that even when a company bans the behavior and tries to stop it, the company could still face enormous penalties if a user finds a way around its rules.
Minnesota’s law subjects technology providers to potential civil penalties of up to $500,000 for each unlawful access, download, or use.
xAI Supports Banning Nonconsensual Fake Nudes
Steele also failed to tell viewers that xAI’s complaint expressly acknowledges Minnesota’s legitimate interest in stopping nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes.
The company is not arguing that people should have the right to digitally undress unsuspecting victims.
Its argument is that Minnesota drafted an overly expansive law that goes far beyond targeting malicious, nonconsensual images.
The law places liability on the owners and operators of websites, applications, software, and other technology services. xAI argues that providers could face crushing penalties even when they prohibit the conduct and make good-faith efforts to prevent it.
That raises serious constitutional and legal questions.
It is also a very different story from Steele’s claim that Musk is trying to overturn laws that stop his “AI robots from undressing you on the internet.”
Steele could have told viewers that xAI believes the law lacks a consent exception, reaches private and constitutionally protected images, and imposes extraordinary liability on technology providers.
He also could have told them that xAI does not support using AI tools to digitally undress people without their consent.
Instead, Steele portrayed Musk as wanting AI robots to undress unwilling people online and turned that portrayal into a political attack against Musk and the Republican Party.
Steele Turned the Lawsuit Into a Political Attack
Steele was not carefully explaining the law or the arguments being made in court.
He was building a political narrative.
He told viewers that Musk was planning to spend $100 million to help Republicans during the midterm elections. He brought up Musk’s support for Donald Trump in 2024 and his involvement in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
Steele cited a poll from YouGov, a British polling firm based in London, claiming Americans disapproved of Musk by a 14-point margin and independent voters disapproved of him by a 33-point margin.
Steele wanted viewers to associate Musk’s support for Republicans with the most offensive possible interpretation of the Minnesota lawsuit.
Instead of explaining that xAI is challenging the scope, wording, and penalties contained in the law, Steele reduced the entire case to one inflammatory accusation:
Elon Musk wants his robots to undress you.
That may be an effective political talking point, but it is not responsible journalism.
Steele presented the lawsuit as proof that Musk wants AI technology to undress unwilling people while leaving out the company’s actual legal argument.
It was partisan propaganda. Fake news indeed.
Elon Musk’s xAI is not arguing that people should be allowed to create nonconsensual fake pornography.
In its complaint, xAI notes that the law “imposes an overbroad, content-based ban on free speech and the tools of visual expression in a clumsy attempt to prohibit ‘nudification.’” The company further contends the statute lacks important exceptions and could punish technology providers over consensual, private, or constitutionally protected images.
Michael Steele left that out.
Instead, the Never-Trumper, Establishment RINO, and Biden voter used his national television platform to portray Musk as someone fighting for the right to digitally undress unwilling victims.
He connected that distorted version of the lawsuit to Musk’s support for Republicans, portraying both Musk and the Republican Party as toxic and desperate.
Steele followed the monologue by turning the discussion over to Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha, highly partisan Democrat and former Obama official Norm Eisen, and establishment Axios reporter Alex Isenstadt, who broke the story on Musk’s midterms spending and has long obsessed in covering Republican politics and President Trump.
No guest was present to explain or defend xAI’s actual legal arguments.
Viewers deserved both sides and the facts.
Michael Steele gave them Democratic and Establishment propaganda.
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