Trump falsely claims Harris used AI to generate visuals depicting large crowds

Former President Donald Trump has long claimed his events draw the most supporters, and when he saw Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign share visuals from recent rallies depicting large crowds, he falsely claimed they must be AI-generated.

Last week approximately 12,000 people attended Harris' events in Philadelphia and Eau Claire, Wisconsin, by the campaign's count. It said 15,000 turned out to support the Democratic presidential nominee in Romulus, Michigan, and Glendale, Arizona. Thousands on the ground witnessed the the crowd sizes at her events and multiple news outlets have confirmed the campaign's numbers are in line with what they saw.

But in a series of posts on his platform over the weekend, Trump took issue with a specific visual depicting supporters greeting Harris as she stepped off Air Force Two in Michigan. He falsely claimed on Truth Social that "There was nobody at the plane, and she ‘A.I.‘d’ it."

Harris campaign: 'This is what a rally in a swing state looks like'

The Harris campaign took to Trump's own platform to respond directly to his accusations, replying with a video of the vice president arriving with her running mate Tim Walz to a cheering crowd when they got off the plane.

“In case you forgot @realdonaldtrump: This is what a rally in a swing state looks like,” her campaign wrote.

In a post Sunday, Trump also compared his false claims about Harris' crowd sizes to his false claim that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen" from him. David Plouffe, former campaign manager for President Barack Obama and now an adviser to Harris, responded on X, formerly Twitter.

“These are not conspiratorial rantings from the deepest recesses of the internet. The author could have the nuclear codes and be responsible for decisions that will affect us all for decades," Plouffe wrote.

Trump implausibly compares Jan. 6 rally crowd to MLK march

Last week, Trump rallied in Montana, where there is a competitive Senate race and held a news conference at his Mar-A-Lago residence in Florida.

The Republican presidential nominee grew frustrated when a reporter asked him about Harris' crowd sizes, responding: "Oh, give me a break." He also implausibly compared the crowd he drew for his Jan. 6, 2021 "Stop the Steal" rally was larger than the one that turned out for Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech.

"I've spoken to the biggest crowds. Nobody's spoken to crowds bigger than me," he said.

While in Arizona Friday, Walz spoke to more than 15,000 people, the Harris campaign said, and mocked Trump for his growing obsession with crowd sizes.

"It's not as if anybody cares about crowd sizes or anything," Walz said with a smile.

Trump aides have not commented on the former president's crowd size posts.

Rachel Barber is a 2024 election fellow at USA TODAY, focusing on politics and education. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @rachelbarber_

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's false Kamala Harris crowd size claim aired on Truth Social