Former President Donald Trump latched onto the airplane reflection conspiracy theory that claims photographs showing large crowds at rallies for Vice President Kamala Harris were generated with artificial intelligence (AI).
In a post to Truth Social on Sunday, Trump highlighted two pictures of a sizeable crowd at an airport hangar near Detroit where Harris visited last week. Trump claimed that one of the photos, which showed a reflection on the body of the plane, proved that “nobody” was actually in attendance.
“Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport?” Trump wrote. “There was nobody at the plane, and she ‘A.I.’d’ it, and showed a massive ‘crowd’ of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDN’T EXIST!”
The former president accused Harris of being a “CHEATER” before demanding that she “be disqualified because the creation of a fake image is ELECTION INTERFERENCE.”
“Look, we caught her with a fake ‘crowd.’ There was nobody there!” Trump said in another post.
The claims kicked off on TikTok, where posters pushed the idea that the reflection revealed all.
Yet countless photos and videos from attendees of the Harris rally prove that the crowd was legitimate.
“The Harris/Walz rally is packed. The event is at DTW, outside at a hangar,” local reporter Ruta Ulcinaite said. “The heat is starting to affect people and speakers have been stopped already 4 times for medical emergencies. Stay with us we’re bringing you live coverage all day.”
The allegation that no attendees could be seen in the reflection on the plane was also quickly debunked by numerous analysts.
“To the idiots believing the picture of Kamala Harris’ plane on the ground is an ‘AI image’ because there’s ‘no reflection of the crowd’ – it’s a curved surface, you effing wankers,” one X user said. “Only objects close to the plane would be reflected. And the nacelles doesn’t have a mirror finish.”
In response to the accusations, David Plouffe, a senior adviser for the Harris campaign, warned about the potential mental state of a candidate who holds such conspiratorial views.
“These are not conspiratorial rantings from the deepest recesses of the internet. The author could have the nuclear codes and be responsible for decisions that will affect us all for decades,” Plouffe said.
Lavora Barnes, chairwoman of the Michigan Democratic Party, responded as well by mocking the former president’s allegations.
“I’m honored that whoever made the AI image of 15,000 excited Democrats welcoming @kamalaharris and @tim_walz to Detroit was kind enough to include me at the lectern,” she wrote. “That AI crowd was really loud, my ears just stopped ringing from their imaginary cheering.”
However, Trump fans have latched on to any reason to debunk the large crowds Harris is drawing, claiming last week that a rally in Wisconsin was only well-attended because Bon Iver played.
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