Altered visuals shared to claim Taylor Swift declared support for Trump

By: Soham Shah
February 14 2024

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Digitally altered footage of Taylor Swift holding a pro-Trump poster. (Source:X/Modified by Logically Facts)

What is the claim?

A digitally altered video is circulating on social media in which American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift appears to hold up a poster that says “TRUMP WON DEMOCRATS CHEATED.” This is in reference to former United States President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 U.S. presidential elections were rigged and that he won the election instead of Joe Biden.

Social media users shared the posts to claim that she had shown her support for Trump at the awards. Archive links of the posts can be accessed here, here, here, and here.

Posts shared on X and TikTok. (Source: X/TikTok/Modified by Logically Facts)

One video on TikTok also carried two other digitally altered photos of Swift, one showing her holding a pro-Trump poster and one of her wearing a cap with the message "Make America Great Again," a political slogan popularized by Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Edited images of Taylor Swift shared on social media. (Source: TikTok)

However, these visuals have been digitally altered and did not originally show Swift declaring her support for Trump. 

 What is the truth?

Video of Swift holding a poster on a red carpet

We noted that the video carried watermarks of the American magazine Variety and also carried credits to Recording Academy. Using this information, we found that an extended version of this footage was posted on February 5, 2024, on the official YouTube channel of the Recording Academy, which organizes the Grammy Awards. The video is from the 66th Annual Grammy Awards held on February 4, 2024. At the 2:24 timestamp of this YouTube video, we can see the same frames as in the viral video, with the man fixing the train of her gown and Swift looking down and then up at the paparazzi.

In the original footage, Swift can be seen wearing the same dress and accessories but does not hold up a poster, making it clear that the video is digitally altered. At the Grammys, Swift was wearing black gloves, whereas in the viral video, she appears to be holding the poster with her bare hands. 

Comparison of the original footage and the viral footage. (Source: X/Recording Academy/Modified by Logically Facts)

We found that on February 5, 2024, Variety took to X to post the exact same 24-second-long clip of Swift on the red carpet that has been used to create the viral video. This clip carries the watermark and credits in the same place and Swift in the same outfit but does not show her holding up such a poster.

We found no credible news reports saying that Swift held up such a poster at the Grammys, an event that would have made headlines. 

 The photos of Swift

For the first photo of her holding a poster, we ran a reverse image search and found that it was posted on Instagram on September 26, 2023. However, it did not show her holding the poster. 

Using hints from the caption of the image, we ran a keyword search and found that the photo was captured by Jason Hanna for Getty Images, and shows a scene during the Chicago Bears vs Kansas City Chiefs game on September 24, 2023.

Comparison of the real and fake image. (Source: Jason Hanna/Getty Images, TikTok)

For the image of Swift in a cap, we used a reverse image search and found that it was an altered version of a photo from the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter on March 2, 2014. 

The original, taken by Mark Sullivan for WireImage and hosted on Getty Images, shows Swift in the same black dress, with the same accessories, and sporting the same hairstyle but without the pro-Trump cap.

Comparison of the real and fake image. (Source:Mark Sullivan/WireImage/Getty Images, TikTok)

In the past, Swift has spoken out against former president Trump on her X account, saying in May 2020, "We will vote you out in November." She has also endorsed President Joe Biden, who ran against Trump successfully in 2020.

The United States Presidential Election will be held on November 5, 2024. Incumbent President Joe Biden and Trump are expected to win the primaries to become the candidates for the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively, which would lead to a rematch of the 2020 elections. 

Logically Facts has previously debunked election misinformation related to Swift.

 The verdict

Analysis of the images show that have been digitally altered, and the original images do not make any reference to Donald Trump. We have therefore marked these images as fake.