Trump’s claims that Harris used AI to fake crowds dismissed as false

Donald Trump accused his presidential rival Kamala Harris of using AI to fake images of the crowds attending her rallies. However, several media outlets, including the New York Times, dismissed the allegations as false confirming they witnessed the thousands of supporters at Harris’ events.

Posting on his wholly-owned social network Truth Social on Aug. 11, Trump said: “Has anyone noticed that Kamala cheated at the airport? There was nobody at the plane, and she ‘A.I.’d’ it, and showed a massive ‘crowd’ of so-called followers, but they didn’t exist!”

Harris campaign brags about ‘swing state’ crowds

Trump was referring to a photo of a big crowd of supporters – estimated at 15,000 – who received Harris at an airport in Michigan on Aug. 7 as she exited Air Force Two. According to media reports, the former president’s claims are false.

The New York Times said it saw thousands at the airport and another 12,000 people at an event in Las Vegas on Aug. 10. A day earlier, the rally in Glendale, Arizona, saw more than 15,000 attendees, The Guardian reports The Harris campaign has also questioned Trump’s narrative.

“In case you forgot @realdonaldtrump: This is what a rally in a swing state looks like,” the team said in response to Trump’s post on Truth Social. Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, was in the company of her running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz for the Michigan rally.

Watch the zoom out. This is real. pic.twitter.com/t1zix5nBEC

— Democracy's Anger Translator (@LostMyDisguise) August 11, 2024

Trump’s allegations that Harris is weaponizing the post-truth potential of AI to flex her power to attract crowds follows his admission that he has used the technology to enhance his speech. However, Trump’s recent outings don’t seem to have overly utilized AI’s storied ethical safeguards.

The former president’s second shot at the Oval Office seemed all but assured as he arguably won the presidential debate against his then-opposite number Joe Biden. His chances of winning the presidency soared to 72% on the Ethereum-based prediction platform, Polymarket, after he survived an assassination attempt early last month.

However, Biden unexpectedly stepped down for Harris as Democrats pushed him out amid concerns about his fitness for office. Suddenly, Trump’s whirlwind run met an unexpected setback as Harris’ fundraiser reached record figures and her rallies went on to attract impressive crowds. In the latest polls, Harris is shown leading Trump in key so-called swing states.

Trump takes pot-shots at rival

Since then, Trump has routinely taken pot-shots at Harris, including the jibe aimed at pictures of the crowds attending her rallies. Addressing the annual Bitcoin Conference 2024 in Nashville in July, Trump made statements against Harris that have been considered politically incorrect.

The real estate mogul mocked Harris’ racial identity, making insulting remarks about her features and giving her a made-up Indian nickname. He repeated the same statements during a sit-down with black journalists earlier in August.

Regarding the Michigan crowds, Trump claimed that Harris had been exposed by a maintenance worker at the airport. Interestingly, the former president drew a parallel between the supposed AI job and his claim that the 2020 elections which saw him edged by Joe Biden were rigged.

“This is the way the Democrats win Elections, by cheating – And they’re even worse at the Ballot Box. She should be disqualified because the creation of a fake image is election interference. Anyone who does that will cheat at anything!”

New York Times also spotlighted Trump’s claim that his infamous Washington D.C rally in the run-up to the riot on the Capitol exceeded the numbers attracted by the civil rights campaign Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” address.