Swift Backlash

Swifties Erup in Fury Afte Donald Trump Uses AI to Fake Taylor Swift Endorsement

"Swifties, now is your chance to destroy Trump and AI in one fell swoop.

Kate Green / Grant Baldwin via Getty / Futurism

Aug 19, 5:30 PM EDT   by Maggi Harrison Dupré

Swifties Assemble

Donald Trump's AI streak continues — and now, the Swifties are getting involved.

Hours after sharing an AI-generated image of vice president Kamala Harris leading a fake communist rally, the former president took to Truth Social to "accept" a fabricated endorsement from Taylor Swift and her clans of fans known as the Swifties.

"I accept!" Trump captioned the post, which featured various screenshots of X-formerly-Twitter posts that combined real images of one Trump-supporting Swift fan — a 19-year-old who, according to Wired, has sold six "Swifties for Trump" shirts on Etsy — with multiple images of uncanny valley-esque young women bearing telltale signs of AI generation.

One included image was that of a fake Swift herself depicted as Uncle Sam, captioned "TAYLOR WANTS YOU TO VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP."

One of the posts, a fake article announcing that Swifties had joined the Trump movement following a foiled ISIS plot to bomb an Eras Tour concert in Austria, was marked with the word "SATIRE" in capital letters. Other fake images included in the lineup, however, weren't marked as fake or AI-generated. Multiple screenshots also came from a right-wing poster who regularly shares misinformation.

To be clear, Swift has yet to endorse either candidate in the 2024 race, but backed the Biden-Harris campaign in 2020 via cookies. And in any case, it's unclear what Trump was really even trying to do here, besides incur the wrath of some Swifties — which some are pointing out might not have been the smartest political move considering their big reputation for being intense and influential.

"Swifties, now is your chance to destroy Trump and AI in one fell swoop," one X user wrote. "You were made for this. You are the army we need."

It's a No

A number of Swift fans took to X to denounce the alleged "Swifties for Trump" movement (which, also per Wired, doesn't appear to be much of a real movement after all).

"Real Swifties hate Donald Trump btw," wrote one perturbed Swift fan, who added in a follow-up that "you can't be a Swiftie and support convicted criminal, that can't co-exist."

"Oh i just know [Tree Paine] is writing up a GOOD lawsuit," added another, referring to Swift's much-feared publicist.

"'Swifties for Trump' obviously don't know who Taylor Swift HATES," another fan chimed in, sharing multiple screenshots of real Swift tweets from 2020 denouncing the former president's actions during the Black Lives Matter protests and "calculated dismantling of the USPS" ahead of the 2020 election.

Swift has yet to weigh in on the possibly-illegal faux endorsement. In the meantime, rest assured, her fans are waiting in the wings to come to her defense.

More on AI and 2024: After Falsely Accusing Kamala Harris of Using AI, Donald Trump Posts AI Slop About Her on Twitter