Support Taylor Swift?
Donald Trump promotes himself with fake pictures
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It's no surprise that Donald Trump doesn't take the truth too seriously. He's now resorting to AI-generated fake images to drum up support for his presidential candidacy. The focus is on Taylor Swift. Of all people!
In the battle for the White House, no means seem too dirty to gain some supposed advantage. At least if your name is Donald Trump. One of the most recent examples of this can currently be found on the Republican's account on his own social network “Truth Social”.
This photo released by Donald Trump was definitely manipulated.
(Photo: Truth Social / Donald J. Trump)
The former US president, who is hoping for a revival in the office of head of state, uploaded several pictures that suggest that he is being supported in his presidential candidacy by pop star Taylor Swift and her followers, known as “Swifties”. For example, several young women can be seen wearing a T-shirt that supposedly reads “Swifties for Trump”.
A collage also shows the singer herself in front of a US flag and dressed in the US colors. Swift raises her index finger towards the camera. “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump” is written on it. Trump commented on the compilation of images in his post with the words “I accept!”
Massive movement?
However, experts agree that most of the images are fake. The image of Swift herself, for example, was either “AI-generated or simply manipulated in a classic way,” Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert at the University of California, told the AFP news agency. Other images published by Trump were also allegedly created using artificial intelligence, reports CNN. According to Forbes magazine, only two images show the same woman who actually wore a similar shirt at an event.
These “Swifties for Trump” don’t exist either.
(Photo: Truth Social / Donald J. Trump)
When asked about the images by the Reuters news agency, Trump's campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said: “'Swifties for Trump' is a massive movement that is growing every day!” However, nothing is known about the existence of a larger “Swifties for Trump” group.
Accordingly, Trump is being showered with criticism and malice. “Even by Donald Trump's lowest standards, this is a new low,” wrote US journalist Martin Williamson on X. Others speculate that Swift may feel compelled to make a statement because of the fake pictures, which may not be particularly positive for Trump. “Bro, she doesn't like you and she's going to make sure everyone knows it,” noted one X user.
So far Swift remains silent
At least in the picture on the left, the technology was also used.
(Photo: Truth Social / Donald J. Trump)
Swift has not yet taken a position in the current presidential election campaign and has not taken a stance on Trump or the Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. Before the 2020 election, however, she supported the incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden. She is also an advocate for the LGBTQ community and the right to abortion and has publicly criticized Trump several times in the past.
It is considered unlikely that she would now come to the 78-year-old's aid. There is even speculation that she could express her solidarity with Harris at the current Democratic Party convention in Chicago. In any case, the fact is that a political recommendation from Swift in one direction or the other could have a certain influence on the voting behavior of some people in the USA.
