(Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
It's no secret that Donald Trump has a pre-occupation with crowd sizes. This week, he's turned his attention to his Democratic opponent with false accusations about how many people are attending campaign events for Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz.
In response to a tweet that accused the Harris campaign of using a "fake crowd photo," the Republican presidential nominee posted on Truth Social that Harris "A.I.'d" a photo of crowds at a Detroit rally. The photo "showed a massive 'crowd' of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDN’T EXIST!" Trump wrote, adding that there was "nobody" waiting. "She should be disqualified because the creation of a fake image is ELECTION INTERFERENCE."
The Harris campaign hit back by saying it had 15,000 people at the Detroit event. "Trump has still not campaigned in a swing state in over a week... Low energy?" it said.
The Harris campaign also posted a video of the campaign crowd on Truth Social with the caption, "Warning: The content of this video may upset @realDonaldTrump."
The smoking gun, according to Trump supporters, is a reflection of an engine on Air Force 2, which they claimed showed an empty airport hanger in the distance. But photos and video footage from news organizations, including the AP and Getty Images, show thousands of people at the event.
(Photo by Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)Social networks and AI companies have been working to combat AI-fueled misinformation ahead of the 2024 election, though some are doing a better job than others. According to June research from DeepMind and Google's Jigsaw, the most common misuse of deepfake tech is to impersonate politicians and celebrities, as we saw with the Biden deepfake calls.
Late last month, X's AI chatbot Grok incorrectly told people ballots were locked in several US states and couldn't be changed to swap Biden for Harris. A fake Harris video also went viral on TikTok and X with altered audio from the VP. Elon Musk also shared a different deepfake video of Harris in a fake political ad.
Musk has rejected calls to remove content from X in the name of free speech, arguing that Community Notes with corrections will suffice. He has endorsed Trump and will host a "live conversation" with Trump tonight at 8 p.m. ET.