AceShowbiz - Republicans continue running with premature narrative that Taylor Swift is endorsing Donald Trump and the former president seemingly took the bait. The Republican presidential nominee has posted fake AI images of the singer, falsely suggesting that he has the support of one of the world's most famous and influential celebrities.

On Sunday, August 18, Trump reposted on his Truth Social account a carousel of Swift and Swifties images, some of which appear to be AI-generated. One of the AI-manipulated photos depicts the pop superstar as Uncle Sam with the text, "Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump."

The other photos depict fans of Swift wearing "Swifties for Trump" T-shirts. Along with the photos, the 78-year-old wrote in the caption, "I accept!"

While two of the photos, depicting a Trump supporter wearing a "Swifties for Trump" T-shirt, were real, according to CNN, several others were doctored. The former president quickly came under fire for reposting the fake images to boost his popularity among young voters.

Maya Luna, a 20-year-old from Connecticut who works on youth voter mobilization, said with a laugh that the Swift AI drama only proves Trump is a "lying a**hole." She said, "His campaign is falling apart, and he can't attack Kamala without being either racist or misogynistic, so that's what he's left with."

The fact the former president's campaign potentially mistook AI for reality makes it "even funnier," Luna said. She further mocked Trump, "I don't want to, like, empathize with Trump at all. ... But there's a chance he's just, like, an old guy who thought it was real."

Anica Czander, 28, thinks it raises an important policy issue. "I think that we're far overdue for some AI regulation," she argued. "I was concerned for the people who were believing it. … We need to have a way to protect people who aren't as easily able to identify that sort of content."

"It seems like a really good opportunity to bring that into the main political discourse," Czander said, noting Swift is "known to be litigious."

While Swift has not publicly spoken out on who she will be voting for, Communications Director Steven Cheung issued a statement claiming the former Republican has the support from many Swift fans. "Swifties for Trump is a massive movement that grows bigger every single day. While Kamala Harris is guilty as sin for all the hurt she has caused every American," he claimed.

Over the weekend, "Swifties for Trump" was trending on X, formerly known as Twitter, with photos and videos of young girls wearing Trump merchandise surfacing online. However, it was up for a debate whether the movement is legit or orchestrated by Trump's team.

In the meantime, other fans are still convinced that Swift will make an appearance at the DNC in support of Kamala Harris. The "Fortnight" singer previously supported Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election and has slammed Trump for "stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism [his] entire presidency."