Donald Trump posted an AI-generated Taylor Swift endorsement. Some Philly-area Swifties are dismayed.

Former President Donald Trump could now have a “Picture to Burn” with local Taylor Swift fans after sharing a false, artificial intelligence-generated image Sunday claiming the West Reading, Pa.-born superstar has endorsed him in the 2024 November election.

Some local Swifties, who hope that their favorite highly influential pop star will soon endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, are concerned with Trump’s promotion of the fake image, yet another example of AI being used to spread election misinformation. Swift, who has yet to publicly endorse a presidential candidate this year, endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020 with a plate of “Biden-Harris” cookies.

In the AI-generated post on Truth Social, Trump wrote “I accept” alongside screenshots of four posts, one of which was labeled “satire,” originally shared on X suggesting support from Swift and her fans. Two of the images feature a real fan, but at least 15 of the fans pictured were a product of AI. One of the false photos that read “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump” depicted Swift in a jacket and top hat, standing in front of the American flag and pointing at the camera a la Uncle Sam.

“It’s kind of just more like infuriating than anything else, because people that are fans of her know that it’s not true, but people that don’t know much about her and see him posting that would just take it at face value,” said Marissa Slattery, 23, of South Philly, who has been a fan of Swift’s since 2006.

Trump’s post is the latest instance of misleading uses of AI amid the election. Just two weeks ago, five secretaries of state, including Pennsylvania’s Al Schmidt, wrote a letter imploring Elon Musk to make changes to Grok, X’s AI chatbot, which was falsely suggesting to users that Harris could not get on the ballot in nine states, including Pennsylvania.

AI, which is becoming easier to access and faster to use in popular platforms, like X or Google, could make interfering in U.S. elections easier than before. In February, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that advances in generative AI make it “easier for both more and less-sophisticated foreign adversaries to engage in malign influence” in this election cycle.

Swift can sue over the AI images Trump posted, based on various legal grounds, but winning a lawsuit may prove difficult because she would have to show that she suffered damages. A “legal threat,” not full-blown litigation, may be the best move for Swift’s team, experts told Business Insider. Swift’s publicist did not respond to a request for comment on the AI images.

“Does he think that nothing’s gonna happen?” said Caroline Macaluso, 22, a Swiftie since 2014.

“I mean, Taylor has very, very publicly endorsed registering to vote and always making sure that you’re ready to vote, and during the 2020 election was publicly endorsing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” said Macaluso, who graduated from DeSales University in Lehigh County in May.

The Trump campaign is adamant that “‘Swifties for Trump’ is a massive movement that grows bigger every single day,” said Steven Cheung, a campaign spokesperson.

It’s not the first time that AI has been maliciously used against Swift. Earlier this year, fake, sexually explicit, and AI-generated pictures of Swift were circulated on X, garnering 47 million views.

“Something that really concerns me in this kind of environment is not just the kind of misinformation [that] is spreading, but the fact that it’s spreading in ways that can kind of reduce the believability of groups that are already perceived to be less believable in the media environment,” said Sophie Maddocks, research and outreach director at the Center for Media at Risk at the University of Pennsylvania.

Swift voted for former President Barack Obama in 2008 but describes herself as once being in a place of “political ambivalence” before becoming more publicly involved.

There are always risks for Swift and other young women when they decide to publicize their political opinions online, Maddocks said.

“Just as Taylor Swift will likely experience immense backlash [for endorsing a presidential candidate this year], this is also something that regular folks, especially women and girls, experience, or fear that they’re going to experience if they post their views online, or if they kind of speak up online about certain issues,” Maddocks said.

Swift could have an important role in mobilizing Pennsylvania voters in her fan base if “she makes it clear that it’s a very important state,” said Marcos Guerra, 22, from Hatboro and a fan for the last decade.

Even some Trump voters are worried about the power and influence of the Swiftie voters.

Barbara Majorana, 76, of Clarksville, Pa., who attended Trump’s Wilkes-Barre rally on Saturday, said she is worried that the singer’s dedicated fan base — which quickly started organizing online to elect Harris — could block Trump’s victory.

Local Swifties agree.

“Swifties are a force to be reckoned with,” Macaluso said.

Staff Writer Gillian McGoldrick contributed reporting to this story.