Tech

Swifties for Trump is an AI fever dream—except for one real woman

Trump pretended to accept an endorsement from them.

Photo of Marlon Ettinger

Marlon Ettinger

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Former President Donald Trump posted a mock endorsement acceptance from Taylor Swift on Sunday, which quickly went viral because of its implausibility. 

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Swift hasn’t announced any official endorsement in the 2024 election but says she voted for President Joe Biden in 2020 and has spoken out more than once against the rightward drift of the Republican Party under Trump since his election in 2016.

She endorsed former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) in 2018 against Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). Two years later she posted pictures of Biden-Harris cookies on her Instagram account along with the announcement that she’d be voting for him.

None of that stopped Trump from posting a bunch of screenshots from X on Truth Social on Sunday purporting to show off Taylor Swift fans who also support the former president.

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swifties for trump
Donald Trump/Truth Social

Most of the posts showed AI-generated images of young women wearing “Swifties For Trump” shirts, along with commentary trying to claim that a groundswell of support for Trump from Swift supporters is starting to make Kamala Harris’ campaign sweat.

“The left continues COMPLETELY MELTING DOWN every time a SwiftiesForTrump post goes up! They’re losing their minds!!” read one post Trump highlighted, which included an AI image of Swift wearing an Uncle Sam outfit calling for “YOU, to VOTE for DONALD TRUMP.”

Another used the news of the foiled terror plot against one of Swift’s concerts in Europe to claim fans were thanking Trump for saving the day.

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“I accept!” Trump posted.

While Swift is no fan of Trump, Trump, who’s extremely interested in celebrity culture, has praised her at times despite acknowledging that she doesn’t support him politically.

Trump reportedly called Swift “beautiful,” but “liberal,” in Nov. 2023, according to a book by Variety co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh. “She probably doesn’t like Trump. I hear she’s very talented,” Trump told Setoodeh. “I think she’s very beautiful, actually—unusually beautiful.”

But at least one of the people in the photos Trump posted isn’t AI-generated.

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She’s Jenna Piwowarczyk, a Trump supporter from Wisconsin who’s also a Taylor Swift superfan. Piwowarczyk is a member of the campus conservative group Young America’s Foundation, according to posts on her Instagram, and her father, Jim Piwowarczyk ran for state legislature in Wisconsin.

According to an article by Jenna posted on Saturday on the independent conservative news site Wisconsin Right Now, she didn’t want to choose between her Swift fandom and Trump. She wrote that she went to a Trump rally on June 18 wearing her Swifties for Trump shirt and took a picture with the former president.

“Yes, she’s great, let’s [hope] she doesn’t endorse Joe,” Trump told her.

Piwowarczyk told the Daily Dot that she hadn’t been in touch with the Trump campaign since meeting him in June. She explained that Swifties are “a more diverse group than people think,” and that many of them have reached out to her in appreciation for the ‘Swifties For Trump’ movement. She also said that despite the differences in Trump and Swift’s political outlooks, they “share their work ethic and accomplishment of the American dream … and demonstrate how the American free market and pursuit of happiness can lead to great success.”

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Trump being reelected is the best option for women in 2024, Piwowarczyk also said, explaining that Trump’s “tough-on-crime policies keep women safe and criminals off the streets.”

“He’ll keep men out of women’s sports, and he’ll maintain rights to protect themselves via the Second Amendment,” she said, referring to Trump’s position on transgender women in sports, and opposition to gun control. 

There isn’t a ton else out there online about Swifties who support Donald Trump, but they’ve been less shy about their support for the Democratic ticket, from embracing Kamala Harris’ Vice President pick Tim Walz for his Taylor Swift fandom, to starting a more than 60,000 follower strong X account called Swifties for Kamala.

This post has been updated with comment from Piwowarczyk.

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