Trump promotes false Harris AI crowd size conspiracy

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday accused his November election opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, of using AI technology to fabricate images of the crowd sizes at her rallies, amplifying an unfounded conspiracy to explain the strong enthusiasm for the new Democratic ticket.

“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!” the Republican presidential nominee wrote on Truth Social.

Trump was referring to an image of a large crowd gathered on the tarmac in Michigan last week, cheering for Harris as she stepped out of Air Force Two. His comments parroted a conspiracy by MAGA Republican commentators, some of whom have previously been caught for promoting misinformation.

The Harris campaign rejected the accusation, maintaining that the image is “an actual photo of a 15,000-person crowd for Harris-Walz in Michigan.”

The campaign also used the opportunity to point out the contrast between Harris’ campaign schedule over the past week and Trump’s: “Trump has still not campaigned in a swing state in over a week… Low energy?”

The back-and-forth represents how more advanced AI tools have eased the process of spreading misinformation this election cycle, making it more difficult than ever for voters to discern reality from internet conspiracy.

But Trump’s peddling of the conspiracy was among several social media tirades against Harris over this weekend.

On Saturday, he slammed Harris for copying his proposal to eliminate taxes on tips, which she announced at her Las Vegas rally Saturday, months after Trump made the same promise at his own Las Vegas rally in June.

″[Harris] has no imagination, whatsoever, as shown by the fact that she played ‘COPYCAT’ with, NO TAXES ON TIPS!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Saturday evening.

Trump’s outrage on social media ultimately reflects a Republican presidential nominee in whiplash.

In the three weeks since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris, donations have poured in at record levels for the vice president and her rallies have regularly drawn tens of thousands of attendees.

Last week, the Harris campaign organized a barnstorming of seven battleground states across the country, though several of those stops were postponed due to inclement weather.

That is a considerably higher pace of campaigning than when Biden helmed the ticket and draws a stark contrast to Trump’s lighter schedule over the past few weeks.

Trump has held one rally so far in August and said he does not plan to pick up his travel until after the Democratic National Convention, which goes from Aug. 19 to Aug. 22.