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Donald Trump's reelection campaign has attempted to play down claims that Democrats are seeking global superstar Taylor Swift's endorsement of President Joe Biden in 2024.
On Monday, The New York Times reported that Biden's campaign was hoping to poach Swift's support. Swift has previously vocalized her opposition towards Trump and Republican lawmakers such as Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn
Amid the rumors, Trump supporter and conservative commentator Benny Johnson posted a photo on social media suggesting the singer had had a change of heart, holding up a pro-Trump flag at a football game.
The Claim
A post on X, formerly Twitter, by conservative commentator Benny Johnson, posted on January 31, 2024, showed a photo of what appeared to be Taylor Swift holding a flag that said "TRUMP WON DEMOCRATS CHEATED!"
Johnson wrote: "Is this real?"
The Facts
The pop star has been vocal in her opposition to Donald Trump, saying of the then-president in a 2019 interview with The Guardian: "We're a democracy—at least, we're supposed to be—where you're allowed to disagree, dissent, debate. I really think that he thinks this is an autocracy."
Had Swift flown a flag in support of Trump contrary to that sentiment, it would almost certainly have made headlines. As it turns out, the photo of Swift holding a pro-Trump flag is not real.
It's a digitally manipulated version of a photo taken by Getty photographer David Eulitt in September 2023, at a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Chicago Bears at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Swift has been pictured at multiple Kansas City Chiefs games since she started dating tight end Travis Kelce last year.
The original image shows Swift clasping her hands and not holding any other object.
Newsweek was unable to find any similar photos before or since.
Swift is currently on a break from her record-breaking The Eras Tour, which will see her perform more than 100 shows across five continents. It has already become the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Swift was named Time magazine's "Person of the Year," for "shooting art and commerce together to release an energy of historic force," but Trump wasn't happy with the decision and shared an article arguing why he should have received the honor instead.
The Ruling
False.
The photo of Taylor Swift holding a "TRUMP WON" flag is not real. It's a manipulated version of a photo from September 2023. Swift was not holding a flag in the original image either.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
About the writer
Tom Norton is Newsweek's Fact Check reporter, based in London. His focus is reporting on misinformation and misleading information in ... Read more