Donald Trump appears to have falsely implied he has Taylor Swift’s endorsement, posting fake images on social media of the singer and her fans supporting him.
The Republican presidential candidate posted the message “I accept!” 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 Swift’s 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: “Swifties for Trump”.
The post appeared to have a label of “satire” with a headline that read: “Swifties turning to Trump after ISIS foiled Taylor Swift concert”.
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 Sam’s face with Swift’s and read: “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump”.
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.
“After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence?,” she posted on Twitter/X. “We will vote you out in November.”
Earlier this year, the BBC discovered dozens of deepfakes portraying black people supporting Trump. There was no evidence linking the images to Trump’s campaign.