“I accept!”: Donald Trump shares fake AI photos of Taylor Swift supporting the former US president and goes viral

Former President Donald Trump posted a fake photo of pop superstar Taylor Swift on social media and urged people to vote for him in the November election.

A post by the Republican candidate on Truth Social on Sunday showed Swift dressed in red, white and blue and was captioned, “Taylor Swift wants you to vote for Donald Trump.”

Swift has not publicly endorsed any candidate for the 2024 race, but has supported Democrats in the past.

The singer supported President Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris in 2020. Harris is set to be officially nominated as the Democratic candidate for 2024 at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago this week. Swift also criticized Trump in a 2020 documentary.

A Swift spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump also posted photos of young women wearing “Swifties for Trump” T-shirts and a satirical article headlined “Swifties turn to Trump after ISIS crashes Taylor Swift's concert.” The article was labeled “SATIRE” above the headline.

Swift canceled three concerts in Vienna this month after authorities said they had foiled a planned attack. Local officials arrested a 19-year-old man they said was inspired by the Islamic State.

“Swifties for Trump is a huge movement that is growing every day,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement when asked for comment on the fake Swift image.

Several Swift fans and watchdog groups said many of the images posted by Trump appeared to be deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence.

Representatives from the music industry, Hollywood and Washington are pushing for federal legislation and other measures to counter the explosion of fake AI images on the internet.

Trump's post was “another example of the power of AI to spread misinformation,” said consumer organization Public Citizen.

“The potential harm to our society that could result from such misinformation, including the misuse of our elections, is far-reaching and immensely damaging,” the group added.

At the Democratic Party convention in Chicago, Swift fan Rebecca Goff handed out friendship bracelets at a Nevada Democratic Party breakfast, a common practice among the singer's fans.

Goff, 39, said she sees Trump as the exact opposite of what she believes Swift stands for, namely the appreciation of girls and women.

“This is the exact opposite of what Trump and the Republicans are trying to do, especially towards women. They are trying to belittle us. They want us to go back to being mere housewives and child bearers,” Goff said.