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Donald Trump shared an AI-generated image of Taylor Swift and her biggest fans wearing “Swifties for Trump” T-shirts, implying that the star has become an unlikely supporter of the MAGA movement.
Swift’s popularity transcends the pop music world: after she urged her 283 million followers to register to vote in an Instagram post last September, more than 35,000 people registered online, according to Vote.org.
Despite her significant political influence, especially among Gen Z, the “Shake It Off” hit singer has yet to publicly endorse any presidential candidate in the 2024 election cycle since endorsing President Joe Biden in 2020.
But Trump appears to believe that Biden’s failure to become the Democratic nominee will encourage Swift and her fanbase, the “Swifties,” to vote Republican.
He shared several deepfake images, including a propaganda-style poster of Swift dressed like Uncle Sam and pointing at the viewer, overlaid with the message “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.”
In another video, several AI-generated fans are smiling and wearing “Swifties For Trump” T-shirts, while a headline labeled “Satire” reads, “Swifties turn to Trump after ISIS blocks Taylor Swift concert.”
Trump posted to Truth Social on Sunday with the caption, “I accept!”
But one of the shared photos shows a real Trump-Swift supporter: 19-year-old Jenna Piwowarczyk, a self-described Swift supremacist and ardent Trump supporter.
A photo of her wearing a white “Swifties for Trump” T-shirt went viral on X, with the teenager claiming to have met the former president while wearing the T-shirt, to which the ex-president responded, “She’s great.”
Pivowarczyk told The Independent that the photo of her that Trump reposted was real and taken during a Trump rally in Racing, Wisconsin in June.
Trump later shared a video from a conspiracy theorist suggesting that Swift’s fans, who previously voted Democratic, had switched to the Republican Party in response to a string of canceled concerts following the thwarted Islamic State terror plot.
“If Trump were president, this would never have happened,” the woman said in the video, despite three shows on her Eras tour in Vienna, Austria, being cancelled.
There’s no hard evidence to suggest which way Swift’s fans will vote.
X’s unofficial account, “Swifties for Trump,” has fewer than 4,000 followers, while “Swifties 4 Kamala,” an unofficial account also created in July, has more than 60,000 followers on the platform.
Kamala Harris’ campaign is said to have been in contact with “Swifties for Kamala,” with the group’s co-founder telling CNN that the vice president’s team “has asked how they can support our efforts.”
After Trump’s 2016 presidential victory, Swift said she was “totally blindsided” and vowed “we’ll vote him out” ahead of the 2020 election, which Biden subsequently won.
Swift also urged people not to vote for Marsha Blackburn, the Republican who ran for Tennessee Senate in 2018 and was described two years later as a “Trump in a wig” in the Netflix documentary Miss Americana.
Trump’s reposting of the AI image marks an attempt to undermine Harris’ campaign before the Democratic National Convention gets underway on Monday, amid rumours that Swift and Beyonce may perform on stage.
Trump also posted another AI-generated image on Sunday showing Harris addressing a communist crowd with a giant banner depicting the Soviet hammer and sickle in the background.
The Independent has contacted Swift’s representatives for comment.
