Trump’s Fake Taylor Swift Endorsement Shows His Latest Use of AI Images

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has been particularly active on his social media accounts amid the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. However, many of his posts have little to do with reality.

Ahead of the convention, Trump posted a fake image resembling Vice President Kamala Harris addressing what looked to be a communist rally in Chicago, complete with a red banner emblazoned with a communist symbol. This followed his repost of a phony video featuring himself dancing next to billionaire Elon Musk, one of his prominent supporters.

Just before the convention kicked off, Trump shared an image of Taylor Swift in an Uncle Sam outfit, falsely claiming she endorsed his campaign. Swift has never made such an endorsement.

These examples highlight how Trump is leveraging images produced by artificial intelligence tools to attack his opponents and create illusions of support for his campaign. This aligns with his long-standing strategy of amplifying messages—from QAnon adherents to election deniers—to score political points and cater to his base by promoting alternate realities.

While some of the images and videos Trump has shared are cartoonish or obviously fake, experts are increasingly concerned about the rise in AI-generated content across political social media. Such content can be used to spread more insidious and believable disinformation. As fake images, videos, and audio clips created by generative AI models become more prevalent on social media, there’s a growing risk of eroding people’s trust in what they see and hear.

“The AI-generated deepfakes of Taylor Swift are yet another example of AI’s power to create misinformation that deceives and defrauds voters,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, a progressive consumer rights advocacy group. She noted that the potential harms to society, including abuses in elections, are far-reaching and immensely damaging.

One AI-generated image in Trump’s Truth Social post showed women wearing “Swifties for Trump” shirts, referencing the artist’s devout fanbase. Another fake image showed Swift dressed as Uncle Sam, with text saying, “Taylor wants YOU to VOTE for DONALD TRUMP.” Trump added “I accept!” in his repost.

One of the images Trump shared did include a small satire label, though he didn’t clarify whether his post was meant in jest.

Swift, who is currently on her world tour with a show scheduled in London, has not commented on the matter. Her spokesperson did not return multiple messages seeking comment.

To Republicans outside Trump’s orbit, the focus on Swift—one of the most talked-about artists in the world—seems to be about garnering attention for Trump at a time when much of the focus is on Harris and the Democrats.

“This is how he and the campaign can wrest back news cycles,” said Doug Heye, a longtime Republican spokesperson and operative. “If you want to be talked about, Taylor Swift is a great way to do it.”

A Harris spokesperson did not respond to questions about Trump’s use of AI-generated images.

Trump supporters frequently create social media posts and memes using AI-generated images, some of which get shared by the former president. Before Trump shared the phony Swift images, his supporters had been creating and posting their own AI-generated content featuring Swift appearing to support Trump. They’ve also shared numerous images of Harris dressed as a communist leader or addressing a Soviet crowd.

Political operatives have long been concerned about what the rise in artificial intelligence could mean for elections. Some members of Congress have pushed for legislation to regulate the use of AI-generated images in politics, but no significant progress has been made. The Federal Communications Commission has proposed requiring political advertisers to disclose their use of AI in television and radio ads, but this rule wouldn’t affect social media platforms.

While several social media companies have rules for labeling AI-generated content, these aren’t always followed. Misleading and lifelike images of both Trump and Harris continue to amass millions of views across platforms, with some users not recognizing them as fake.

Given her influence and millions of fans, Swift has often become a trending political topic during election years. In 2020, she supported President Joe Biden and expressed her support for then-vice presidential nominee Harris. She also criticized Trump ahead of the 2020 election, accusing him of stoking “the fires of white supremacy and racism.”

While Swift has remained on the sidelines so far this year, her potential political endorsements continue to draw attention from prominent conservatives. Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro warned her not to “get involved in politics,” and Sean Hannity urged her to “think twice” about backing Biden. Vivek Ramaswamy, a former GOP presidential candidate and vocal Trump supporter, called Swift and her NFL star boyfriend Travis Kelce “an artificially culturally propped-up couple” who may make “a major presidential endorsement” this fall.

Some Swift supporters have responded to Trump’s posts by declaring their intentions to vote for the former president. Trump’s campaign is eager to seize on that support. Steven Cheung, Trump’s spokesman, did not address the use of fake images but claimed that “Swifties for Trump” is a “massive movement that grows bigger every single day.”

Source: AP