“I Accept”: Donald Trump Falsely Claims Taylor Swift Election Endorsement

Dominic Patten
·4 min read
1k

Taylor Swift is backing Donald Trump’s latest bid for the White House, at least according to the former president.

Openly obsessed with the superstar performer, Trump took to his Truth Social on Sunday to claim the endorsement of Swift.

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In response to getting Swift’s supposed unexpected seal of approval, Trump declared “I Accept.” Trump may like the idea of a Swift endorsement, but, like so much with the poll sagging candidate, the long sought backing of the Tortured Poets Department songstress is pure fiction.

While a photo the ex-Celebrity Apprentice host posted of a teen wearing an apparently homemade “Swifties for Trump” t-shirt is real, an article claiming that Swift fans are turning to Trump after the terror threats that saw the singer’s Vienna, Austria shows were canceled in early August is not. In fact, the computer-generated images on the original feed of conservative media outlet Amuse blatantly labels the post as “satire.”

As well, a depiction of Swift dressed up as Uncle Sam and telling Americans to vote for the GOP candidate is all AI and pure disinformation:

In a statement to Deadline over Trump’s postings, the former president’s campaign spokesman Stephen Cheung said that “Swifties for Trump is a massive movement that grows bigger every single day.” In the final stages of the European portion of her record-breaking Eras Tour, Swift has not said anything about the Trump postings as of yet. The singer is continuing her stint at London’s Wembley Stadium tonight and on August 20.

A cookie-baking Swift was a supporter of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the final weeks of the Covid-19 dampened election of 2020.

The ex-president also seems to be forgetting that Swift explicityly disavowed him in an emotional video posted online in 2018, saying in part that she wished she had done so during the 2016 election cycle. It’s unlikely, given the strength of those sentiments, that her opinion of Trump has changed.

This time round, Swift has not come out to endorse either the President, who stepped aside from his reelection effort on July 21, or the surging campaign of the Vice President. Yet, as the numbers in the fan created Swifties for Kamala swell and Swift inspired friendship bracelets are being created for the Democrats’ convention in Chicago this week, hope springs eternal that the billionaire performer will put her guitar strumming finger on the political scale soon again for the Dems – especially as the VP’s numbers inch ahead of Trump in what has been a dramatic but still very tight race.

In that vein, there have been a number of rumors and whispers that Swift will take advantage of a break in her tour to jump on a plane to either perform or simply appear at the last night of the DNC on August 22. However, like the image of a back-up singer from one of Swift’s recent Warsaw, Poland concerts that seemed to show a waving silhouette of Harris, a DNC visit by the singer to the Windy City is likely more fantasy than fact.

As Trump’s desire for the backing of Swift and the Swifties bubbled up again this weekend, the scale of the disinformation swirling around the 2024 election grows. Just like Trump posted on a fake Swift endorsement, this past weekend he also posted an AI created image of Vice President Harris giving a speech with the communist hammer and sickle flag hanging in a Chicago arena and an audience of Maoists standing at attention before her.

In that fiction around Harris’ ideological leanings, Trump has been joined by the Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post. After the VP gave a speech last week outlining her economic proposals, including controls on price gouging at supermarkets and more affordable housing incentives, the tabloid blasted her with a front page headline of “KAMUNISM.” The accompanying image had the Veep at a lectern with a hammer and sickle emblem on it in lieu of the seal of her office.

Harris will be giving a real speech with the true emblem of her office on August 22, the last night of the DNC. Expected to endure attempts at counter-programming by Trump and running mate Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), the Democrats’ return to Chicago begins today with a keynote speech by President Biden and an anticipated full throated and tear filled tribute to the retiring Commander-in-chief.

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