Former President Donald Trump has taken his obsession with Vice President Kamala Harris’ large crowds at her rallies to new heights, falsely claiming in Sunday’s social media posts that he used artificial intelligence to create photos and videos of fake crowds. .
Harris’ events, including one in Detroit outside an airplane hangar, saw crowds of thousands and news outlets including The New York Times, and the turnout reported by his campaign is in line with what was seen on the ground. Trump falsely wrote on his social media site Truth Social that “there was no one on the plane and he did it.”
A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Subscribe to The Morning newsletter from The New York Times
Trump has struggled to find his political footing in the weeks since President Joe Biden decided to step down and Harris replaced him at the top of the Democratic ticket: Trump questioned Harris’ racial identity at a conference of black journalists, he later attacked popular Republican Brian Kemp. governor in the state of Georgia, and has seen new polling place behind Harris in several key states.
Harris’ campaign has taken to mocking Trump for his frustration with his crowds, one of which topped 15,000 people at an event in the Phoenix area on Friday.
“It’s not like anybody cares about the size of the crowd or anything,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, told the crowd to loud cheers.
In his messages on Sunday, Trump drew parallels between his false claims and his false claims in the 2020 presidential election.
“He is a fraud. He had NO ONE waiting and the ‘crowd’ looked like 10,000 people!” Trump wrote. “The same thing is happening to his ‘fake’ troops” in his speeches. This is how Democrats win elections by cheating – And they are even worse at the ballot box. He should be disqualified because creating a fake image is ELECTION PROCUREMENT.”
Harris’ campaign took to Trump’s social network to mock his wild accusations, responding to one of his posts by sharing a video of Air Force Two arriving in Detroit to a huge crowd and her getting off the plane with Walz.
“In case you forgot @realdonaldtrump: This is what a swing state rally looks like,” his campaign wrote.
Trump did not hold any events in swing states last week. Instead, he held a rally in Montana, home to a crucial Senate race, and a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
Trump also showed frustration with Harris’ crowd at that event and even praised the crowd at his rally in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021, which preceded the Capitol riot, saying it was larger than anticipated. Martin Luther King Jr. for his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
“No one has ever spoken to a bigger crowd than me,” Trump claimed.
c.2024 The New York Times Company