Horror novelist Stephen King wrote on social media on Sunday that Donald Trump “has really lost it” after the former president went on a rant claiming that Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, used artificial intelligence (AI) in a photo to bolster her rally crowd size in Detroit earlier this week.
Harris has hit the ground running after President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign and endorsed her on July 21. She has brought in tens of thousands of attendees at her rallies in Philadelphia, Detroit and Glendale, Arizona, according to her campaign. Meanwhile, Harris’ campaign has used the vice president’s large crowd sizes to repeatedly mock Trump, the GOP’s presidential nominee, for having empty seats at his campaign events.
Referencing Harris’ rally in Detroit, Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Sunday afternoon, “Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport? 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 claimed that the large crowd at Harris’ rally was also “fake,” adding, “She should be disqualified because the creation of a fake image is ELECTION INTERFERENCE. Anyone who does that will cheat at ANYTHING!”
A Harris campaign official told Newsweek via email late Sunday afternoon, “I can confirm that the photo was taken by Harris campaign staff and not modified by AI in any way.”
King, a vocal Trump critic, responded to Trump’s rant on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday afternoon, writing: “Is this real? If it is, Trump has really lost it.”
Adam Parkhomenko, a Democratic strategist, replied to King on X and wrote: “Yep, and it’s scarier than anything you’ve ever written.”
Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s campaign and King’s representatives via email for comment.
In an earlier post on Sunday afternoon, King mocked Trump for his rally crowd sizes.
Harris “rocked the house In LV [Las Vegas]! 4000 turned away! Trump? Empty seats even in MAGA country. Not a good look for Felony Boy,” King wrote, referring to the 34 counts of falsifying business records that a New York jury handed down on the former president in late May. Trump has maintained his innocence, claimed the case was politically motivated and moved to dismiss the case, which involves a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Harris’ rally in Las Vegas on Saturday brought in over 12,000 people, according to the Harris campaign, and roughly 4,000 people were turned away due to concerns of overheating, the Nevada Current reported.
Earlier this week, Trump claimed that the media has favored Harris when talking about big rally sizes.
“If Kamala has 1,000 people at a Rally, the Press goes ‘crazy,’ and talks about how ‘big’ it was – And she pays for her ‘Crowd.'” he wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. “When I have a Rally, and 100,000 people show up, the Fake News doesn’t talk about it, THEY REFUSE TO MENTION CROWD SIZE. The Fake News is the Enemy of the People!”
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Did Harris Use AI to ‘Fake’ Crowd Sizes?
About an hour after Trump posted about Harris’ rally crowd sizes, the Harris campaign shared two videos of Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, coming off of Air Force Two in Detroit on Wednesday to a sea of supporters on the tarmac and in a hangar where they were set to speak. According to Harris’ campaign, over 15,000 people attended the Detroit rally.
The first video was in response to another post from Trump claiming to show the “fake” crowd. “In case you forgot @realdonaldtrump: This is what a rally in a swing state looks like,” the Harris campaign wrote alongside the video.
The photo Trump posted was analyzed by the fact-checking organization Snopes who used AI-detection tools and determined it was “likely photographed by someone and not created using an AI-generation tool,” but added that the image posted by the former president is “possible it was digitally edited.”
In the second post, the Harris campaign wrote: “Warning: The content of this video may upset @realDonaldTrump.”
On Thursday, MLive, an online Michigan newspaper, shared a photo of a crowd of Harris supporters in front of Air Force Two on the tarmac in Detroit on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, throughout the election season and before, Trump has boasted about the size of his rallies, often relying on unsubstantiated evidence or guesswork.
Newsweek has debunked a previous claim that the former president made about attracting 60,000 people to a rally in Dayton, Ohio, in March 2024 and another claim that he attracted 50,000 people to an event in Pickens, South Carolina, in July 2023 was unverified.
