A lot is being made of the authenticity of Kamala Harris's rallies, particularly about how artificial intelligence is being used to craft video and photos that make her crowds look a lot bigger than they are.
Is that actually happening?
Judging by a lot of the pictures circulating around, social media that point out some very odd details in photos and videos, arguing against the idea that AI isn't being used is difficult. To be sure, there are odd things about some of the footage coming out, including the fact that if it is digitally altered by AI, the AI forgot to put the crowd in the reflection of the Air Force Two's outboard engine. To be clear, there are a lot of photos and videos circulating right now that try to prove AI usage and many of them have been inaccurate, coming from parody accounts that people took seriously, so take the AI usage claim with a grain of salt.
Here's the thing, though. You don't need the AI manipulation argument to point out that Harris's campaigns aren't exactly the most legitimate when it comes to attendance.
As the Daily Wire's Matt Walsh pointed out on X, this isn't exactly the best mode of attack either, and I kind of agree with him. As he posted, it's very easy and highly likely that Harris is utilizing other means of beefing up her crowds, including help from Unions and the Hollywood machine. Contrast this with the fact that Trump doesn't have to do this:
The crowds are real humans. They are there because Kamala has the entire media and Hollywood machine building up hype for her. Trump does it IN SPITE of that machine. Point that out. Make that the response. The AI stuff makes us look desperate and terrified. Very dumb strategy. Very very very dumb.
He reinforced his point by saying that Hollywood can and has made people famous by just pulling them off the street and putting a lot of the spotlight on them. They've done this a lot over the decades, and it's not hard for them to do:
If the media and Hollywood pulled a random person off the street and decided to make them a star, they could do it. It may not last long. The star power they generate may be pretty fleeting. But they can do this with almost anyone, provided they are basically sentient and at least moderately photogenic. No AI conspiracy needed.
If the media and Hollywood pulled a random person off the street and decided to make them a star, they could do it. It may not last long. The star power they generate may be pretty fleeting. But they can do this with almost anyone, provided they are basically sentient and at…
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) August 11, 2024
As RedState has already pointed out, Harris has been bussing in Union members to fill seats. They utilize celebrities to draw in crowds where they think they'll be needed.
(READ: The Difference Between a Packed Harris Rally and a Packed Trump Rally)
Moreover, at the Las Vegas rally, the Harris campaign had to use curtains to cover the thousands of empty seats on the upper deck.
Everything about this campaign is fake.
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) August 11, 2024
Kamala is now using big black curtains to hide empty sections at her rallies.
Phoenix yesterday: Las Vegas today: pic.twitter.com/fogqguMIze
The point is there's already a lot of evidence that the Harris campaign is manipulating things to make her look more popular than she actually is without AI. However, the Trump campaign isn't having to do any of that at all. They don't have to manipulate crowd sizes. They're showing up in droves to see him.
But let me say this about all of it.
I think we're getting too hung up on rally sizes. Yeah, it's fun to watch Harris get out-attended by Trump, but in an age where getting extras into a building to pretend to be enthusiastic about a candidate isn't that hard, rally attendance isn't the ultimate indicator about whether or not someone will win an election. Claiming AI is being used to make Harris's campaign look bigger is, as Walsh said, making Trump supporters look scared.
Don't be scared, be active.
