Trump falsely implies Taylor Swift endorses him
Donald Trump appears to have falsely implied he has Taylor Swiftâs endorsement, posting fake images on social media of the singer and her fans supporting him.
The Republican presidential candidate posted the message âI accept!â alongside the images, which were taken from other social media accounts. Many appear to have been created using artificial intelligence.
The post sparked a backlash among Swiftâs fans, known as Swifties, who accused Trump of spreading misinformation.
The singer has not endorsed a candidate in the 2024 election but backed the Democrats in 2020 and criticised Trump while he was president.
One of the photos shared by Trump depicted Swift fans wearing t-shirts that read: âSwifties for Trumpâ.
The post appeared to have a label of âsatireâ with a headline that read: âSwifties turning to Trump after ISIS foiled Taylor Swift concertâ.
Swift recently cancelled three concerts in Vienna following a possible security threat. Police arrested two people on suspicion of planning attacks inspired by the Islamic State group.
Another re-posted photo mimicked a World War One US army recruiting poster, which replaced Uncle Samâs face with Swiftâs and read: âTaylor wants you to vote for Donald Trumpâ.
NBC News reported two of the images Trump re-posted feature real women who are Trump supporters.
Swift supported the Democratic Party in the 2020 election, and criticised Trump during the nationwide protests over the police murder of George Floyd.
âAfter stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence?,â she posted on Twitter/X. âWe will vote you out in November.â
Earlier this year, BBC discovered dozens of deepfakes portraying black people supporting Trump. There was no evidence linking the images to Trumpâs campaign.