Donald Trump Pleads Ignorance About Taylor Swift AI Fakes

Over the weekend, Donald Trump bizarrely claimed Taylor Swift’s endorsement by reposting images that were obviously AI-generated on his Truth Social account. Now, the presidential hopeful is pleading ignorance about whether he knew the photos were AI fakes.

In a recent interview with Trump, Fox Business correspondent Grady Trimble brought up the images while asking the convicted felon if he was worried about getting sued by Swift. “I don’t know anything about them, other than somebody else generated them,” Trump replied. “I didn’t generate them.”

The former president continued, “Somebody came out. They said, oh, look at this. These were all made up by other people. AI is always very dangerous in that way… It’s happening with me, too. They’re making — having me speak. I speak perfectly, I mean, absolutely perfectly on AI, and I’m, like, endorsing other products and things. It’s a little bit dangerous out there.”

Watch the clip below.

Among the images Trump shared was a badly Photoshopped image of Swift dressed as Uncle Sam made to look like a classic military recruitment poster with the text, “TAYLOR WANTS YOU TO VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP.” He captioned the post with the words, “I accept!” — even though Swift has not yet endorsed a candidate in the election.

The Trump campaign made another major social media blunder earlier this week when spokesperson Steven Cheung posted a video of Trump deplaning in Michigan with Beyoncé’s song “Freedom” as the soundtrack. Facing potential legal action after the singer issued a cease and desist, they took the clip down.

Editor’s Note: Read our own Wren Graves’ essay about why Swift should avoid giving Trump the attention he wants.

Former President Trump on the AI-generated images of Taylor Swift: “I don't know anything about them other than somebody else generated them.” pic.twitter.com/gBEzxx4L4o

— Grady Trimble (@Grady_Trimble) August 21, 2024

Swifties – let’s get Taylor’s attention on this. It’s disgusting. We know Tay does not support Trump or the use of AI to spread misinformation using her likeness. She needs to get her legal team to respond ASAP. pic.twitter.com/P9HhtQ84MC

— hunty 🗳️💙🏳️‍🌈 (@huntys_pov) August 18, 2024