Keren Browning/The New York Times
Former President Donald J. Trump on Sunday claimed without evidence that Vice President Kamala Harris, his 2024 presidential rival, used artificial intelligence to doctor or create images of a packed rally in Detroit last week.
“She ran an 'AI' over it to show hordes of so-called followers who don't exist!” Trump wrote on his social networking site, Truth Social.
Three New York Times reporters who attended the Michigan rally confirmed that the crowd size was in the thousands, contrary to Trump's claim that “there was no one there.” A Times analysis of photos and videos from the rally also found that Trump's claims about the size of the crowd were unfounded. Other images and videos taken from multiple perspectives showed a large audience.
Graphic from The New York Times, aerial photo from NearMap
Audience size is often compared between candidates, but Trump is now focusing on it.
A Harris campaign official told The Times in an email that the original photo in question was taken by campaign staff and had not been altered by artificial intelligence.
The crowd was packed into the airplane hangar. Some attendees waited on higher ground for a better view of Harris' arrival, but most stood on the floor. The angle at the back of the hangar where reporters were positioned made it hard to gauge how large the crowd was.
Rally attendees watched Air Force Two land on the runway.
Julia Nickinson/The Associated Press
But by moving to a nearby staircase facing the hangar's open doors, Times reporters were able to get a clearer view of the size of the crowd, which stretched beyond the hangar and onto the runway beyond, not far from where Air Force Two had come to a halt.
Supporters inside the hangar as Gov. Tim Walz addressed the crowd.
Brittany Gleason of The New York Times
Attendees gathered near the stage as Harris spoke.
Jeff Kowalski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
While Harris spoke, the crowd, which was too large to fit inside the hangar, watched her speak on screens along the runway.
Jeff Kowalski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Harris' X account streamed the rally, showing the first few minutes of the crowd as Air Force Two arrived. Post to X The image reflected what the campaign said was 15,000 attendees, and in response to Trump's post, the campaign also posted a video of the crowd as Air Force Two arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
Posts questioning the authenticity of the crowd photos and the size of Harris' audience had already begun to bubble up among far-right Trump supporters before Trump jumped in. Trump's Truth Social post included a screenshot of a post on X by Chuck Calest, calling the crowd photos “fake.”
Calest is a conservative social media strategist who frequently posts false information and “stop the steal” content about the 2020 election. Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist whom Trump wanted to hire for his campaign, has posted about the photo multiple times, and far-right blogger Joe Hoft also wrote about it.
Even before Harris' rally, Trump had already made a point of comparing her rally attendance to his own, saying in campaign speeches that Harris drew crowds because she was entertaining and that he didn't need to do the same to draw attendees.
