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Days after Donald Trump reposted an AI-generated image of Taylor Swift endorsing his presidential bid, the Republican candidate denied knowing anything about the image.
The former president shared a post on Truth Social on Monday with a fake image of the singer and fans wearing “Swifties for Trump” T-shirts, making it appear as if the pop star had voiced his support for Trump's reelection. In reality, the pop star, who endorsed Joe Biden in 2020 and urged his hundreds of millions of social media followers to do the same, has yet to endorse any 2024 presidential candidates.
Trump shared a photo including a picture of Swift dressed as Uncle Sam surrounded by the words “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump” with the caption “I accept!”
Two days after Trump shared the deepfake, Fox Business reporter Gary Trimble asked him if he was worried that Swift could sue him.
“I don't know anything about them other than somebody created them. I didn't create them,” Trump said after a campaign rally in Asheboro, North Carolina, on Wednesday.
President Trump speaks at the U.S.-Mexico border south of Sierra Vista, Arizona, on Aug. 22, 2024. He denied knowing anything about Taylor Swift sharing an AI-generated image of her cheering for him earlier this week (Getty Images)
The former president then struggled to explain how he came across the AI-generated images: “Someone came along and said, 'Oh, look at this.' These were all made by other people. AI is always very dangerous in that sense.”
He added that he has also come across deepfake videos of himself.
“They're having me give speeches, and I give speeches that are perfect, perfect about AI, and then I promote other products and things,” he continued. “It's a bit of a dangerous place out there.”
There's no question why Swift support is so popular.
On National Voter Registration Day last September, the singer-songwriter encouraged her 272 million Instagram followers to register to vote, and according to Vote.org, her call led to a 115 percent increase in 18-year-old voter registrations, with more than 35,000 people signing up.
Taylor Swift performs at Wembley Stadium as part of her ERAS tour in London on June 21, 2024. This week, Donald Trump shared a fake image of Swift endorsing him (Scott A. Garfitt/InVision/The Associated Press)
Trump may be trying to win over younger voters, with recent polls showing just over one in four young people (27%) saying they will vote for him in November's election.
Surprisingly, this is not the first time President Trump has shared an AI-generated image this week.
Ahead of this week's Democratic National Convention, where Kamala Harris accepted the nomination, the Republican candidate tweeted a fake image of the vice president in a red blazer addressing a packed crowd of communists while a red flag depicting a gold hammer and sickle was raised above his head.
The communist reference came after Trump falsely claimed Harris had “gone full-on communist” following her economic platform announcement last week. Trump has also referred to Harris as “Comrade Kamala.”
