- Donald Trump shared several images purporting to show support from Swifties.
- Some were sourced to a satirical post; another was an Uncle Sam-inspired Taylor Swift meme.
- Swift has not endorsed either major candidate but supported the Biden-Harris campaign in 2020.
Donald Trump seems to have caught the ire of Swifties with a social-media post encouraging their support.
The former president posted “I accept!” on his Truth Social account Sunday alongside four sets of images that mostly showed women in “Swifties for Trump” T-shirts.
One set of images, however, came from a post labeled “satire,” and several of the images displayed typical AI markers. Another image showed an Uncle Sam-inspired depiction of Taylor Swift with the words “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.”
Swift has not endorsed either major presidential ticket so far but supported the Biden-Harris campaign in 2020 and accused Trump of “stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism
While two of the images appeared to show the real-life Trump supporter Jenna Piwowarczyk, other Swift fans don’t seem pleased with Trump’s outreach.
“Swifties — let’s get Taylor’s attention on this. It’s disgusting. We know Tay does not support Trump or the use of AI to spread misinformation using her likeness. She needs to get her legal team to respond ASAP,” one X user said.
Swifties – let’s get Taylor’s attention on this. It’s disgusting. We know Tay does not support Trump or the use of AI to spread misinformation using her likeness. She needs to get her legal team to respond ASAP. pic.twitter.com/P9HhtQ84MC
— hunty ☀️ (@huntys_pov) August 18, 2024
Others encouraged the singer to take legal action against Trump for using her likeness without permission.
AI-generated content has flooded the internet since free tools such as DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion became available.
Fake images of prominent figures have already gone viral, fooling many social media users, and prompting concerns that AI-generated images could influence voters.
Earlier this year, the BBC found some Trump supporters had been creating and sharing deepfakes of black voters to encourage them to vote Republican.
In a response to Trump’s Truth Social post about Swift, one user said: “She would NEVER endorse you. You’re talking about the queen of the childless cat ladies here. Girlfriend has her own damn army.”
“I hope this triggers Taylor Swift to come all out in support of Harris. You don’t play with the Swifties,” another X user posted.
With a US adult fan base nearly as large as the 2020 presidential vote count, the superstar’s endorsement could significantly boost either campaign. Swift’s fans are also known for their fierce loyalty and organization — getting on their bad side is unlikely to work out well for the former president.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.