As the US presidential election heats up, Trump’s bizarre attempt to court Taylor Swift’s fanbase with AI-generated images shows the extent to which he can go to sway public opinion
My first reaction, I have to confess, was a guffaw. It just couldn’t be true. In an era where fake news is practically an international pastime, you develop a radar for these things. And, being something of a Swiftie myself, I know her politics damn well. Taylor Swift, the reigning queen of pop and the global ambassador of break-up anthems with legions of fans around the world who — fresh off her record-shattering Eras Tour — has become one of the most influential entertainers on the planet, would be the last person to do this.
What am I talking about? Well, Swift, who is the subject of study in a multitude of universities in America, was recently in the news for a reason that had nothing to do with the string of milestones she keeps adding: former US president Donald Trump — master of the social media sideshow, champion of alternative facts — had decided to rope her into his 2024 presidential campaign, with a little help from Artificial Intelligence.
In a post on his own platform, Truth Social, Trump shared a collage of AI-generated images that suggested — wait for it — Taylor Swift had endorsed him for President. Picture this: Swift dressed as Uncle Sam, pointing at you with the caption, “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.” (If you didn’t immediately conjure a mental image of her grimacing in every conceivable way, then you’re not paying attention). In another image, there’s a group of young women sporting ‘Swifties for Trump’ T-shirts.
If you think this sounds like a bad Saturday Night Live sketch, you’re not far off. Except this is 2024, where reality is often more bizarre than fiction, and where the lines between parody and politics are about as blurry as the reasoning behind choosing Trump as your candidate if you’ve ever listened to a Taylor Swift song.
The humour, and horror, of it all
The humour (or horror) of this situation was not just in the absurdity of the images themselves. It was the fact that Swift, who had been a vocal critic of Trump, was now being portrayed as his fan. It’s as if someone had mashed together the scripts for 1984 and Mean Girls and called it a day. But perhaps Trump thinks that in the post-truth age of deepfakes and AI, he doesn’t need actual facts when he can generate his own.
Swift had made headlines for endorsing Democratic candidates in her home state of Tennessee in 2018, sparking a voter registration surge that had political pundits wondering if she was the new Oprah. Breaking her silence on her politics, the pop star, who moved to Tennessee as a teenager, wrote in a post on Instagram that she planned to vote for former Gov. Phil Bredesen for US Senate and Rep. Jim Cooper in his re-election bid to the Fifth Congressional District.
“In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now,” Swift said, expressing her support for LGBTQ rights and her is against systemic racism and other forms of discrimination, Swift said she couldn’t support Bredesen’s opponent, Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn. “As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me,” she wrote.
During the 2016 election, she had maintained a dignified silence on her political leaning, abstaining from openly endorsing Hillary Clinton, and opting instead for a belated show of support via Twitter. Cut to 2020 and she took to Twitter, not to drop a surprise album, but to eviscerate Trump with a blistering tweet: “After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’??? We will vote you out in November,” she had written, overtly backing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
In 2024, the stakes are higher. And Trump, like Narendra Modi, understands the power of celebrity. He knows that just a whiff or semblance of endorsement from someone like Swift could result in an avalanche of support, bordering even on frenzy. And if that endorsement doesn’t actually exist? No problem — just create it! After all, why let truth get in the way of a good story?
Tapping into Swift’s emotional currency
By sharing these AI-generated images, Trump is not just trying to score political points; he’s tapping into the emotional currency that Swift represents. But Swift isn’t just any celebrity. She’s someone who has carefully cultivated her brand around values that are often at odds with Trump’s. Her outspoken advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, gender equality, and racial justice stands in sharp contrast to Trump’s policies and rhetoric.
So, the notion that Swift would suddenly don a red MAGA hat and start belting out a version of Love Story rewritten to feature Trump and Melania is the stuff of fever dreams — or nightmares, depending on your perspective. It is laughable, yes, but it also shows the lengths to which someone like Trump will go to sway public opinion.
On another level, it’s also a reflection of the increasingly murky waters of misinformation we all find ourselves swimming in. What makes this episode particularly disturbing is the way a former president can share blatantly fabricated images and still have a sizable audience take him seriously. When the dust settles on the campaign for the 2024 US election, Trump’s dirty little trick will only be a quirky footnote. Let’s just say they belong in the same category as Swift’s exes, one of whom she royally skewered in the self-referential single, Look What You Made Me Do: things better left in the past.
As for Swift, she’ll likely continue doing what she does best: making music, speaking her truth, and, perhaps, shaking this off with a knowing nod to the ludicrousness of it all. After all, if there’s one thing she’s proven, it’s that she’s more than capable of writing her own story, no matter how many Trump-willed and AI-generated detours try to rewrite it.
