Donald Trump Shares AI-Generated Images of Fake Taylor Swift Endorsement: ‘I Accept!’
Donald Trump has claimed a fake, AI-generated endorsement from Taylor Swift and her fanbase.
In a post on his Truth Social account, the former President shared several images showing Swifties sporting “Swifties For Trump” t-shirts as well as a poster that features Swift in an All-American getup that reads, “Taylor wants YOU to VOTE for Donald Trump.” The images, at least two of them, are clearly AI-generated, but that didn’t stop Trump from claiming the support.
“I accept!” he wrote alongside a collage of the images.
In addition to the collage, he also reshared (or is retruthed?) a video that showed a woman suggesting that Swifties will be supporting Trump in the 2024 election after the singer-songwriter canceled her shows in Vienna over an alleged plot for a terrorist attack.
“If Trump was in office, this wouldn’t have ever, ever happened,” she said in the clip, failing to mention that Vienna is in Austria, not America. “She would be safe. There wouldn’t be terrorism or wars going on because we had world peace before and he’ll do it again.”
404 Media reports that Trump’s post could potentially have violated a Tennessee law, the Ensuring Likeness, and Image Security (ELVIS) Act.
The bill was signed into law on July 1 and protects the likeness, voice, and names of artists. Several of Swift’s companies, such as TAS Productions and 13 Management, are registered in the state. While she could have a case for a lawsuit, there’s also the potential for a more traditional defamation case.
Per Billboard, Swift could probably take legal action against Trump if she wanted to. According to Jessica Silbey, a Boston University School of Law professor and intellectual property and constitutional law expert, the AI-generated post Trump posted likely conflicts with Swift’s right of publicity or ability to control the use of her name, image, and likeness.
“Everyone enjoys a right of publicity,” she told the publication. “This kind of use — being made to say and seen as believing things you don’t — is at the core of the right.”
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Swift hasn’t endorsed either of the presidential candidates this election, but she notably endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020. She has not commented on Trump’s recent activity on Truth Social.
