Why false claims that a picture of a Kamala Harris rally was AI-generated matter

One of the things being litigated in this presidential campaign is whether the crowds at rallies are even real.

At a Detroit aircraft hangar last week, Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, stepped off Air Force Two greeted by thousands of supporters. NPR’s Tamara Keith was there to see it.

There were 15,000 people at the rally, according to the Harris campaign. Photos and videos by attendees and media organizations captured the crowd from many angles.

But former President Donald Trump and his supporters have falsely claimed the crowd seen in a photo of the rally in front of Harris’ plane was a product of generative artificial intelligence. On Sunday, Trump made the nonsensical claim that the very real crowd at the event was a fabrication..

“Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport?” reads one of his posts on Truth Social “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!”

When a reporter asked him Wednesday about why he made the claim given that it was proven false, Trump did not acknowledge his claim had been untrue. “Well I can’t say what was there, who was there,” responded Trump in an exchange that was televised by Fox News. “I can tell you about ours, we have the biggest crowds ever in the history of politics.”

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

The Harris campaign confirmed to NPR that the photo in question was taken by a campaign staffer and was not modified by AI.

The ‘Liar’s Dividend’

The refusal to accept basic, verifiable facts has some observers concerned about a repeat of 2020 false claims of a stolen election if former