Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, recently shared fabricated images on social media implying that pop singer Taylor Swift and her fans support his campaign for the upcoming U.S. election.
The posts featured various AI-generated deepfakes, seemingly sourced from right-wing accounts known for distributing misinformation, along with the message “I accept!” One photograph depicted cheerful Swifties—Swift’s fans—wearing shirts that read “Swifties for Trump.” Another image portrayed Swift in the guise of Uncle Sam, reminiscent of a World War I recruitment poster, urging attendees to vote for Trump.
Additionally, one of the images included a phony headline, labeled as “satire,” suggesting that Swift’s followers had shifted their allegiance to Trump following the cancellation of a concert in Vienna due to political tensions earlier this month.
Swift has not officially endorsed any presidential candidate for the November election, although she previously supported the Democratic Party in 2020. During Trump’s presidency, she openly criticized him, particularly following George Floyd’s murder and the resulting protests. In a 2020 post on social media, Swift stated, “After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? We will vote you out in November.”
As of now, Swift has not responded to Trump’s posts. These images represent just the latest batch of AI-generated content from Trump, who has a track record for spreading misinformation, during a contentious presidential campaign.
On Sunday, he disseminated an AI-generated image showing Kamala Harris, another presidential nominee, addressing a communist rally during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Trump also shared a deepfake video of himself dancing to the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” alongside billionaire Elon Musk, who has publicly supported Trump and recently engaged in a chaotic two-hour discussion on Musk’s platform, X.
Last week, Trump falsely claimed that an authentic photograph showing a large crowd at a campaign rally for Harris and her running mate Tim Walz was digitally manipulated. He posted, “Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport? There was nobody at the plane, and she ‘A.I.’d’ it, and showed a massive ‘crowd’ of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDN’T EXIST!”