Donald Trump has made his feelings about Taylor Swift clear. In a Truth Social media post, and in all capital letters, he wrote, “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT.” His condemnation of the superstar singer marks a dramatic departure for the former President, who previously posted his acceptance of what he appeared to believe was Swift’s endorsement of his Presidential campaign. Mr. Trump posted images generated by artificial intelligence (AI) that purported to show Ms. Swift and her fans – known as Swifties – backing Mr. Trump and wearing “Swifties for Trump” t-shirts.
Online rumors suggested that some Swifties had begun leaning toward Donald Trump after terror attack threats linked with ISIS forced the star to cancel a series of European concerts. Austrian law enforcement uncovered a plot by ISIS devotees in Vienna to attack a Swift event, and she subsequently canceled the Vienna leg of her world tour. From there, Ms. Swift traveled to the UK, where her shows took place under heavy security just days after three young girls were murdered at a Taylor Swift dance class in northwest England.
While there was some evidence that a small number of Swifties did announce their support for Trump, most of the images shared by Trump were fakes, and Swift addressed this when she eventually delivered her public endorsement of Kamala Harris and prompted around 400,000 voter registrations.
In a lengthy Instagram post immediately after Harris debated Trump in Philadelphia, Swift said she felt compelled to speak out and address the prior AI images of her appearing to endorse the former President. She said this “conjured up” her worst fears about AI and the dangers of spreading misinformation. Swift then urged her 284 million followers to register to vote and made clear she would cast her ballot for Kamala Harris.
The singer did not respond to Donald Trump’s “hate” remarks, but several of her fans did, and within hours, “I Love Taylor Swift” was trending on social media. Some analysts suggested Trump had made a dramatic error in expressing his “hate” for the young woman in doing so, drawing more negative attention to his campaign. Celebrity business strategist Nina Vargas said, “Instead of turning people against Swift and thereby Harris, he has sparked a backlash.”
