Taylor Swift announced her support for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for president shortly after the recent debate concluded. In her Instagram post, she addressed former President Donald Trump’s use of artificial intelligence and deepfake images to misrepresent her stance, falsely portraying her as endorsing his campaign.
“Recently, I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site,” Swift stated. “It really conjured up my fears around AI and the dangers of spreading misinformation.”
Swift’s endorsement of Harris comes as no surprise, given her endorsement of Joe Biden over Trump in the 2020 election. However, Trump’s posts on Truth Social, where he shared AI-generated images of Swift seemingly endorsing his campaign while exclaiming “I accept!”, compelled her to clarify her stance.
“It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth,” she added.
As one of the world’s leading musical artists, Swift has faced multiple instances of false representations involving deepfakes, particularly in the wake of the rise of generative AI technology. Earlier this year, explicit AI-generated deepfakes of her circulated on social media, illustrating the weaponization of such technology against women and highlighting that even prominent figures like Swift are not exempt from being victimized.
Trump’s posts also reflect a growing trend among politicians and campaigns utilizing deepfake imagery, often without proper disclosure, within a largely unregulated framework governing AI use in political contexts. The Federal Election Commission and the Federal Communications Commission have engaged in debates over who should oversee AI regulation in political advertising, but neither body is expected to establish concrete guidelines before the upcoming November election.