We are entering uncharted territory with political advertisements these days, presenting serious moral and ethical questions.

Politico recently reported about a new anti-Trump TV advertisement funded by "Never Back Down," a pro–Ron DeSantis super-PAC that has used A.I. (artificial intelligence) technology.

The advertisement focuses on President Trump's criticism of Iowa governor Kim Reynolds in an attempt to push two narratives.

The first is to imply that President Trump has disdain for conservatives.

The second is to suggest he disrespected the highest elected official of the first caucus state of the primary and thus disrespected Iowans, too, since she was their choice.

A section of the advertisement uses an A.I.-generated voice that unsuccessfully mimics President Trump's dulcet tones.  The A.I. voice actually sounds rather stilted and robotic.  But the advertisement doesn't state explicitly that it isn't Trump's voice, and perhaps the casual listener will be deceived. 

The text of the "utterances" is purportedly based on President Trump's post on his social media site Truth Social.

What the advertisement does is not provide context to Trump's criticism of Reynolds.

Reynolds said she won't formally endorse any of the candidates in the Republican primary; this is according to the tradition of past governors from Iowa, which holds the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Nobody could object to that, as many top officials prefer to remain neutral at such times to avoid claims of favoritism when their job is to facilitate a free and fair contest.  During such times, even the appearance of bias can be construed as bias.

But Reynolds's words don't seem to match her actions.

Reynolds has appeared with DeSantis at three events he has hosted in the state, including his first in-person campaign event.  Reynolds described DeSantis as "a candidate who has shown us that he can, and all you have to do is look at his record."

Reynolds also joined DeSantis's wife, Casey, to launch "Mamas for DeSantis," an attempt to draw more women and parents to the DeSantis camp.

Clearly, Reynolds has a preference for DeSantis but is being hypocritical by claiming to be neutral.

She should have refrained from all political activities during the primary phase if she really is nonaligned to any candidates.

Reynolds's claim of neutrality during the primary seems as real as DeSantis's claim that he was not running for president months before his disastrous campaign launch on Twitter.

DeSantis seems to reciprocate Reynolds's support.  At an informal news conference in Iowa, DeSantis responded with "of course" when asked if he would consider Reynolds as a running mate.

DeSantis recently claimed, "The number-one thing people have come up to me and shake their heads about was Trump attacking Kim Reynolds. They couldn't believe it.  And these are some people that were planning on supporting him who are not now doing that.  So that is not the way we win."

The attack advert will run across Iowa from tomorrow, and the ad buy was at least $1 million.  It will also be pushed via text message and on digital platforms.

Despite the advert, Trump retains a commanding 24-point lead over his peers in the Hawkeye State, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average, and is the clear frontrunner nationally.

DeSantis has on many occasions attacked the legacy media for being untrustworthy, yet a PAC that supports him is applying the same shady tactics.

To be fair, DeSantis may have had nothing to do with the deceptive advertisement.

But since DeSantis is claiming to run on a morality platform, it would make sense for him to disavow the adverts and order his PAC to withdraw them immediately.

The deceptive advertisement is, however, the least of DeSantis's concerns.

Ever since his catastrophic "launch" on Twitter, things aren't going too well for him.

DeSantis's backers probably told him that people would favor him because he is Trump without the "baggage," but that isn't happening; he is trailing in the polls in double digits behind President Trump.

To reach the top in any field, one must launch at the right time.

The reason President Trump flirted with the idea of running for president since the 1980s but never really ran before 2016 is because he understood it wasn't his time.

Is this DeSantis's time?

Trump's supporters know that the Deep State in D.C. tried their best to unseat him during his first term and attempted to block or impede his MAGA agenda.

Trump's supporters know that the 2020 elections were rigged on myriad levels, from the coordinated suppression of the Hunter Biden story to the Zuckerbucks scandal to allowing mass mail-in ballots.

These Trump-supporters rightly think he deserves another chance to become president.

DeSantis has a right to run, like every American citizen, but clearly, based on the polls, this isn't his time. 

If he had the right political instincts, he would have understood this.

In fact, he should have announced in mid-2022 (before the midterms) that he doesn't plan to run.  He should have focused on Florida completely.  Then planned a run in 2028.

But instead, he spent a great deal of time campaigning without officially declaring, so it is quite likely that Floridians are not thrilled that their governor has been absent for such long periods of time.

His trailing in the polls has brought him the taint of being a loser, which never helps a candidate.  His body language during his many appearances makes it obvious that he is feeling the pressure.

This is the time when the D.C. establishment is using all it has to baselessly target President Trump.  At such a juncture, any attacks on Trump will be perceived as siding with the enemy.

DeSantis is hence running in a contest where he cannot even attack his chief opponent.

To attack or not attack President Trump is not his only dilemma.

DeSantis cannot withdraw at this juncture, just a few months after his launch, which means that he may be seriously hurting his chances in 2028.

In the minds of voters, such a lack of judgment will raise questions: how did DeSantis not understand the impossible situations he placed himself in by running?

Image: Screen shot from WESH 2 video report via YouTube.