Trump Spreads False Conspiracy Theory About Detroit Crowd Size

CNN —

Donald Trump falsely claimed in a series of social media posts Sunday that no one attended Vice President Kamala Harris' rally in Michigan last week and said his Democratic rival should be disqualified over a fake crowd photo.

The former president appears to have succumbed to a far-right conspiracy theory, easily debunked by photos and videos taken by attendees and media outlets showing thousands of supporters at the event in an airport hangar near Detroit.

The false claims about Harris’s event attendance come as Trump navigates the contours of a reshaped presidential race, with the vice president riding a wave of new Democratic enthusiasm after replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket. The Republican nominee, who regularly draws large crowds, has long been obsessed with audience size, with his speeches often filled with exaggerated boasts about turnout.

Trump, on his social media site Truth Social, made the fabricated claim that Harris had been reported by an airport maintenance worker who noticed the fake crowd photo.

He then said Harris should be disqualified from the 2024 election because creating a false image is ELECTION INTERFERENCE. Anyone who does this is cheating at EVERYTHING!

Still, photos and videos from the event, including footage captured by CNN cameras, reflect the massive audience for Harris’ event Wednesday. The crowd filled a large hangar and spilled onto the sprawling tarmac where Air Force Two had stopped. Two large bleachers and many rows of chairs stood outside, as well as several giant screens for the outdoor crowd that couldn’t see the rally stage.

Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said on LinkedIn that he analyzed the photo with two models designed to detect patterns associated with AI-generated images. Both models found no evidence of AI generation, he said, adding that the text on the signs and the plane [showed] none of the usual signs of generative AI.

While the absence of evidence of manipulation is not proof that the image is real, he said, we find no evidence that this image is AI-generated or digitally altered.

David Plouffe, a senior adviser to Harris' campaign, wrote on X: “This is not conspiracy rhetoric from the deepest depths of the internet. The author could have the nuclear codes and be responsible for decisions that will affect us all for decades to come.”

On Sunday, Trump shared a screenshot of an X post that featured two photos: one shared on X by a Harris staffer that showed thousands of people saluting Harris' plane; another zoomed in on the curved, reflective side of one of Air Force Two's engines in which the crowd is unclear.

Did anyone notice that Kamala CHEATED at the airport? There was no one on the plane, and she did it, and showed a massive crowd of so-called supporters, BUT THEY DON’T EXIST! Trump wrote on Truth Social. She was exposed by a maintenance worker at the airport when he noticed the fake crowd photo, but there was no one there, which was later confirmed by the reflection of the mirror-like finish on the VP’s plane.

She is a CHEATER. NOBODY expected her and the crowd looked like it was 10,000 people! Same thing happens with her fake audiences at her speeches, Trump added. She should be disqualified because creating a fake image is ELECTION INTERFERENCE. Anyone who does this is cheating at EVERYTHING!

Trump has been indicted twice for alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

He falsely claimed in another message: “Look, we caught her with a fake crowd. There was no one there!”

In response to Trump's false claims, rally attendees and Harris staff shared their own photos from the event on social media Sunday afternoon.

Michigan Democratic Party Chairwoman Lavora Barnes shared a photo from the event on X, showing her addressing a large crowd before Harris’s introduction. Barnes joked that she was honored that whoever created the AI ​​image of 15,000 cheering Democrats welcoming Harris and running mate Tim Walz to Detroit was kind enough to include me at the podium.

That AI crowd was really loud, my ears stopped ringing from their imaginary cheering, Barnes said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN's Kate Sullivan and Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.

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