Democrats and some Carolina Hurricanes fans are criticizing Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley for a social media message cheering on Raleigh’s NHL team. They’re accusing him of being a fair-weather fan and using artificial intelligence to create images of a fake player. 

Ahead of the team’s Game 1 Stanley Cup Final loss to the Vegas Golden Knights Tuesday, a post appeared on a Whatley social media account, saying: “Let’s go, Canes!” The message, posted on his X account, featured emojis of a hockey stick and an American flag. 

Some social media users took issue with another feature of the post: An image of what appears to be a Hurricanes player that accompanied the message. The problem: Fans had a difficult time identifying the player. 

They accused Whatley of using artificial intelligence to create the image, pointing to garbled letters on a jersey where the NHL logo typically is and helmet stickers that are inconsistent with the team’s current branding. While a few users took the opportunity to praise Whatley in responses, many derided the post as “AI slop.” 

At least one fan implied that the image looked like a mashup of two Hurricanes forwards, Jackson Blake and Andrei Svechnikov. 

“Jacksandrei Blakenekov, also one of my favorite HHL players. Why’s everyone so upset?” a user quipped in response to Whatley’s post, which had been viewed by almost 300,000 users by late Wednesday.  

“Nothing says a true fan like an AI-generated fake player,” wrote another. 

One respondent presented Whatley with a challenge: “I’ll vote for you if you can tell me this player’s name and number,” the user wrote. 

Whatley on Wednesday acknowledged that AI was used to create the image. “It’s just a graphic we created,” he said at a campaign event in Zebulon. “Look, I want to see the Carolina Hurricanes win. It would be great for the state.” 

Asked by a reporter to name his three favorite Hurricanes players, he responded: “You know, I think we like them all.” 

Asked to name one favorite player, he said: “That’s a team that’s loaded. They’re playing offense really well. I’m excited about having them there.” 

The Hurricanes have won 12 of 14 games in the playoffs — one of the best starts to a  postseason in NHL history — despite a lack of memorable moments from some of the team’s most recognizable stars. The team’s top line of Svechnikov, Aho and Seth Jarvis has struggled to match its regular-season productivity. Other players — including Blake, Logan Stankoven and former league MVP Taylor Hall — have led the team in scoring.  

A spokesperson for the Hurricanes declined to comment. 

‘Not a big deal’ 

Other Whatley social media accounts have featured similar images. One post on Instagram featured a player who looks like Blake but is wearing the number of forward Sebastian Aho. 

Whatley described his campaign’s use of AI in such posts as “not a big deal.” But some political analysts disagree. 

“The fact that it was bungled makes it more of an issue,” said David McLennan, a political science professor at Meredith College, which sits less than 3 miles from the Hurricanes’ home arena. 

Whatley is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Thom Tillis, who chose not to seek reelection. The seat is seen as important to the GOP’s effort to retain control of the chamber in this year’s midterm elections. 

Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chairman who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, trails Democrat Roy Cooper by a wide margin in recent polls. McLennan, who regularly polls voters on state issues and candidate preferences, said team allegiance doesn’t typically affect voters’ decisions at the ballot box.  However, McLennan says it could affect how some voters view Whatley’s campaign. “It brings attention to the candidate and raises questions about the candidate’s credibility,” he said. 

Cooper, 68, is a former two-term governor who frequently attends Hurricanes games and appears on sports radio shows and podcasts to discuss the team. He also took advantage of the team’s appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, airing a television ad during Game 1, part of his first TV ad campaign in what is expected to be one of the most expensive races in the country. 

McLennan said a less-is-more approach could have worked better for Whatley. “If he had just sent out an ad that said, ‘Go Canes,’ that’s innocuous,” McLennan said. “Everybody would have said, ‘He’s a Canes fan, just like Roy Cooper.’ But the fact that there are questions raised about the AI-produced image now brings more scrutiny to Whatley and future ads.” 

BBQ ‘scandal’ 

Whatley, 57, isn’t the first U.S. Senate candidate to face scrutiny for a social media post about one of North Carolina’s cultural cornerstones. 

Republicans in 2020 slammed Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham for misrepresenting the state’s barbecue in a social media post. Cunningham posted a photo of himself standing next to a grill, adding the caption: “There’s nothing better than BBQ — except for winning this Senate seat, of course.”

The state Republican Party at the time called Cunningham’s post a “scandal,” since North Carolina barbecue traditionally refers to pork cooked over wood or charcoal-fired pits — not a grill.

Whatley, who chaired the North Carolina Republican party at the time, issued a statement shortly after Cunningham’s post that accused the Democrat of being “an elitist trial lawyer.” 

“This BBQ gaffe demonstrates that he is out of touch with North Carolina voters who actually know what North Carolina BBQ is,” Whatley said at the time. 

On Wednesday, it was the state Democratic Party’s turn, saying in a statement: “As North Carolina rallies around the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Finals, real fans are showing up — and fake fans are named Michael Whatley.”

The North Carolina Republican Party shot back: “Does Cooper’s basement campaign let him stay up to watch 8 p.m. games?”

In response, Cooper’s campaign pointed to more than 20 public events it has held this year, including one in which Cooper spoke with hockey analysts after a game, after 8 p.m.  

WRAL reporters Brian Murphy and Paul Specht contributed to this report.