A Republican House nominee endorsed by President Donald Trump could not name the largest city in the district he wants to represent, telling a reporter, “I don’t know, ask Grok.”
Anthony Constantino, who is running in New York’s 21st Congressional District, made the remark in an interview with journalist Jake Lahut published Thursday in Lahut’s newsletter, The Hut.
The district is solidly Republican, but the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sees the seat as a possible pick-up because Constantino is a relatively unknown, untested candidate who got the president’s attention by gifting him a bronze statue of himself.
“Where do you think you really need to perform the best to make sure you win this thing? And then also, what is the most populous city in NY-21?” Lahut asked.
“Most populous city? I don’t know, ask Grok,” Constantino snapped, referring to billionaire Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot. “You can figure these things out. I don’t memorize things, because there’s a thing called SI now.”
“You use the term SI instead of AI? When did you start doing that? Also, it’s Rome, I believe,” Lahut responded. Rome, home to about 32,000 people, is the district’s largest city.
“Elon’s doing it, Mark Zuckerberg is doing it. It’s actually a pretty good name. But people can call it whatever they want,” Constantino said.
Constantino’s use of the term SI, short for super intelligence, echoes Trump’s effort to rename artificial intelligence. The president signed an executive order renaming AI “super intelligence” and wrote on Truth Social on Oct. 8 that anyone who uses the old term is “THE ENEMY,” according to Politico.
Nobel Prize-winning computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton, often called the “godfather” of AI, told the Guardian this week that Trump’s use of the term shows he understands “almost nothing” about the technology. Hinton also called the president “a corrupt, senile felon.”
“Superintelligence means smarter than people, and has been around for at least 20 years. It’s got a very clear meaning. And now he says we’re going to call AI ‘superintelligence’. You can’t make it smarter than people just by calling it smarter than people,” Hinton said.
“I’m sure the oil and asbestos companies would have liked to [regulate themselves] as well,” Hinton said of Trump’s position that AI companies should police themselves.
Earlier in the interview, Lahut also asked Constantino about the difference between mandatory and discretionary spending. Mandatory spending, such as Medicare, is required by law, while Congress must approve discretionary spending each year.
“Mandatory means mandatory, and discretionary means discretionary,” Constantino replied. When Lahut pressed him to explain the terms, he said, “You tell me.”
In another exchange, Lahut asked whether New York State should keep control of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs New York City’s subway system.
“That’s a New York City issue. I’m running in Upstate New York, okay?” Constantino said.
“These are disingenuous questions because I’m not required to have an answer,” he added after Lahut noted that the state controls the agency.
“Anthony is strongly supported by many of the most Highly Respected MAGA Warriors in our Movement, including Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Roger Stone!” Trump wrote in endorsing Constantino before the June primary.
Constantino, who owns the custom printing company Sticker Mule, gave Trump the bronze statue of Trump himself in 2025. At a primary debate, Constantino said he had “always had his back.”
“In fact, in 2020, when he nicely exited the White House and a terrible person named Joe Biden entered, I went and I supported the president quietly by buying a Mar-a-Lago membership,” Constantino said.
“If we win, it’s a victory for the forces of good,” Constantino told Politico in June, ahead of the primary he went on to win.
Constantino faces Democrat Blake Gendebien in the Nov. 3 general election.
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