Gen Z Democrats Mock Donald Trump-Taylor Swift AI Controversy

CHICAGO – Former President Donald Trump stirred up controversy on Sunday by reposting doctored images on his Truth Social account, falsely portraying that he had the backing of one of the world’s most renowned celebrities: Taylor Swift.

Gen Z attendees at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday reacted with humor and sarcasm, although their amusement was tempered by concerns about the dangers of artificial intelligence.

Swift had endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 election, and her appeals to fans to register to vote led to significant increases in new registrations nationwide. However, the superstar has so far avoided engaging in the current presidential race.

Maya Luna, a 20-year-old from Connecticut focusing on youth voter mobilization, laughed at the situation, labeling the former president as a “lying a–hole.”

“His campaign is falling apart, and he can’t attack Kamala without being either racist or misogynistic, so that’s what he’s left with,” Luna remarked.

Luna, who is involved with the Gen Z group Progress Libs, doesn’t believe a Swift endorsement would alter the presidential race dynamics. Her organization and similar groups have already seen strong support for the newly established Harris-Walz ticket.

The potential misunderstanding by Trump’s campaign, mistaking AI-generated content for reality, added to Luna’s amusement. “I don’t want to sympathize with Trump at all, but there’s a chance he’s just, like, an old guy who thought it was real,” she said.

Anica Czander, 28, viewed the incident as highlighting a significant policy issue. “I think we’re far overdue for some AI regulation,” Czander stated. “I was concerned for the people who were believing it. We need to have a way to protect people who aren’t as easily able to identify that sort of content.”

Czander saw it as an opportunity to introduce AI regulation into mainstream political discourse, noting that Swift is “known to be litigious.”

The fabricated image showed Swift dressed similarly to Uncle Sam, accompanied by the words “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.” Trump reposted the image with the caption “I accept.”

The singer has not addressed the fake image, but the Trump campaign has persisted. Communications Director Steven Cheung claimed that Trump has significant support from Swift fans. “Swifties for Trump is a massive movement that grows bigger every single day,” he asserted, while criticizing Kamala Harris.

CNN reported that two photos, showing a Trump supporter wearing a “Swifties for Trump” T-shirt, were genuine, although several others were AI-generated.

Jenna Knupple, 26, pointed out that Swift’s endorsement would be significant because she wields substantial influence over young people. She expressed concern that fans might be misled if they falsely believed Swift endorsed Trump.

“You might truly think this is real and maybe hop on a bandwagon just because you think that your favorite artist supports this. So I think it could potentially have some type of pull,” Knupple commented. “We see that Swifties will do a lot of things as they think Taylor Swift or what she has said.”

Elisa Calderon, 24, agreed, saying, “I feel like if Taylor were to endorse Harris, that would have a huge effect on the youth.”

Tyler Sykes, 19, noted that besides Swift, another major star like Beyoncé could have a similar impact on young voters if she endorsed a candidate.

Beyoncé has not publicly supported any candidate so far, but she has allowed Harris to use her song “Freedom” as a campaign theme song, leading to speculation that her endorsement of Harris might be forthcoming.

Sykes mentioned that neither endorsement would influence his vote. However, he acknowledged it might have mattered more in a different scenario where he was unsure who to support. He expressed excitement about voting for Harris, noting the historic moment.

“I think it’s exciting, and the possibility of having the first female president is a huge opportunity for my first presidential election,” he added.