Trump’s false claims about A.I. crowd photos are incredibly ironic

Seemingly stumped in efforts to stem the energy surrounding Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, Donald Trump is asking voters not to believe what they can see with their own eyes.

In social media posts shared Sunday, Trump falsely accused the Harris campaign of using artificial intelligence to generate images of large crowds at her events.

“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!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform. He continued, saying, “She’s a CHEATER. She had NOBODY waiting, and the ‘crowd’ looked like 10,000 people! Same thing is happening with her fake ‘crowds’ at her speeches. This is the way the Democrats win Elections, by CHEATING.”

To be clear: the crowds were real.

The Truth Social post included an image from a Detroit-area airport rally that drew thousands of people, as NBC News reported. And while Trump said there was “nobody at the plane” when she arrived, you can see her being greeted by a large crowd as she steps off her plane in footage captured by NBC News. You can also see an image of her plane being welcomed by a large crowd here. And a Getty photographer confirmed the large crowd to The Daily Beast.

Trump is no stranger to getting crowd sizes wrong. He’s notoriously obsessed with inflating the crowds at his own events. And his claim that Harris was waving at nobody is particularly rich considering he’s the one who has been captured in a video appearing to wave at nonexistent crowds in footage his campaign has shared to give the impression he’s immensely popular.

It’s also ironic that Trump is claiming that Harris is sharing A.I.-generated images for political gain when he and his followers have done just that. In one example, he used his social media platform to share an image that appeared to depict him praying in a church, only for the image to be called out as fake after people noticed he had six fingers on both hands. And Trump’s followers have shared other A.I.-generated images depicting him around Black people to give the impression he’s popular among Black folks.

So his claims about Harris fit his pattern of accusing other people of doing things he has himself already done. But they also suggest his desperation over Harris’ apparent popularity is growing, as is his seemingly increasing public detachment from reality and his insistence that followers join him in undermining faith in democracy. 

If he can convince his supporters that the photographs are fake, it’s a short step to convincing them that any votes for her in November are bogus, too.