Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has alleged that Democrat candidate Kamala Harris has used A.I. to generate images of large crowds at her events, something CNN has dismissed as “conspiracy theory.”An image suggested an alleged 15,000-person crowd was in front of Air Force 2, the Vice-President’s Plane, on April 7 at a campaign event in Romulus, Michigan, a half hour drive from Detroit. However, a post to Truth Social by commentator Chuck Callesto suggested no one was there. Callesto circled and put question marks over a reflection of the tarmac shown on the plane that showed nothing but pavement and two personnel..Donald Trump reposted Callesto’s post, adding a long paragraph with comments of his own.“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! She was turned in by a maintenance worker at the airport when he noticed the fake crowd picture, but there was nobody there, later confirmed by the reflection of the mirror like finish on the Vice Presidential Plane. She’s a CHEATER. She had NOBODY waiting, and the ‘crowd’ looked like 10,000 people! Same thing is happening with her fake ‘crowds’ at her speeches. This is the way the Democrats win Elections, by CHEATING - And they’re even worse at the Ballot Box. She should be disqualified because the creation of a fake image is ELECTION INTERFERENCE. Anyone who does that will cheat at ANYTHING!”Andrew Harnik, a Getty Images photographer at the rally who has covered politics for decades, dismissed Trump’s claims. He told the Daily Beast, “It was a large crowd, and the pictures that I took that are on the Getty website speak to that.”As for the image on the plane, Harnick explained that he used a zoom lens, which can create the appearance of bringing objects closer together. “The plane is actually a pretty far distance from the crowd,” Harnik said.The Harris campaign assured CNN that it is “an actual photo of a 15,000-person crowd for Harris-Walz in Michigan.”CNN was definitive in their dismissal of Trump’s claims, saying Harris had been “falsely accused” and Trump was “parroting an unfounded conspiracy theory”, one “spread online by MAGA Republican commentators, some of whom have been previously caught promoting misinformation.”Then again, CNN also said AI was making fakery quite hard to spot.“The false allegation from Trump lands in the middle of an election where huge advances in AI tools have eased the process of spreading misinformation. This makes it more difficult than ever for voters to discern reality from internet conspiracy,” wrote CNN reporter Rebecca Picciotto.A video below, posted to TikTok from an alleged attendee, suggested Kamala did receive a big reception..A Truth Social account named Boosted Patriot replied to Trump "with the click of a button, sir," to show how easy it is to manipulate images. The video begins with Harris walking down the stairs from the plane with her running mate before an empty tarmac when suddenly a roaring crowd is inserted matching the one in the disputed images.Some observers, including conservative commentator James Woods, have alleged other anomalies in photos of Harris crowds.
