During a campaign appearance earlier this week, former President Donald Trump appeared to distance himself from the AI-generated images of pop singer Taylor Swift that he posted on his Truth Social platform – possibly to avoid a costly lawsuit.
The New Republic (TNR) reported that on Truth Social, Trump initially wrote “I accept!” accompanied by a carousel of AI-generated photos with pro-Trump imagery that suggested Swift supported him, and then distanced himself from the post entirely. The images included Swift dressed as Uncle Sam with the text “TAYLOR WANTS YOU TO VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP” and fake photos of women wearing T-shirts that read “Swifties for Trump.”
“I don’t know anything about it except that somebody else originated it,” Trump told Fox Business reporter Gary Trimble. “I didn’t originate it.”
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“Someone came out and said, ‘Oh, look at this,'” he continued. “This was all invented by other people. AI is always very dangerous in this respect.”
TNR’s Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling suggested the former president might be particularly sensitive to the prospect of a costly lawsuit from Swift, who has a long list of successful lawsuits. The billionaire pop star is known for sending cease-and-desist letters to anyone who uses her name, image or likeness without prior consent. For example, she sued a Denver DJ for just $1 after he groped her.
But Trump’s aversion to being sued by a popular musician may also be because legendary singer Beyoncé threatened to sue him this week for using her song “Freedom” in a campaign video posted on Trump spokesman Steven Cheung’s X-Account (formerly Twitter). Rolling Stone reported that her team sent the 45th President of the United States’ campaign a formal cease-and-desist letter over the 13-second video, which Cheung has since deleted.
This song – which was on Beyoncé’s 2016 album lemonade — was adopted by Vice President Kamala Harris as the official campaign song. The Harris team received permission from the singer’s team after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in late July, and the song played in the background of her first official campaign video.
READ MORE: Report: Beyoncé threatens Trump with cease and desist order
It’s unclear if Swift’s representatives have sent Trump a cease-and-desist letter, and she has yet to publicly comment on Trump’s Truth Social post. However, the former president remains fixated on the pop star. TNR reported that he insisted on speaking about her at a meeting with Republican members of Congress in Washington, DC, apparently out of concern that she might support Democrats.
While the megastar has yet to comment on the 2024 race, Swift officially endorsed Biden in an interview with V Magazine in October 2020.
“The change we need most is the election of a president who recognizes that people of color deserve to feel safe and represented, that women have the right to decide what happens to their bodies, and that the LGBTQIA+ community deserves to be recognized and included,” she said at the time.
Click here to view TNR’s full report.
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