Fact Check: Did Taylor Swift hold a Trump Won flag at the Grammys 2024? Viral video debunked

On February 5, the morning after the 66th Grammy Awards, a claim that Taylor Swift was endorsing Donald Trump for the 2024 presidential election arose online.

A video circulated on social media platforms showing Taylor Swift on the red carpet holding a red flag with the words “TRUMP WON DEMOCRATS CHEATED!” written on it in white and blue.

The 23-second clip showed the Lover songstress posing for the camera while background noises lauding her can be heard. The footage also had the logo of the media outlet Variety in the top right corner, with the text “Courtesy: Recording Academy” and the logo of Grammys inscribed on the top left corner.

It was first posted by X user @PapiTrumpo who wrote in the caption, “AWWW… THANK YOU!!!” which has been now viewed over 4.6 million times. Netizens began believing that Taylor Swift indeed endorsed Trump at the Grammy Awards 2024.

However, various media outlets including Newsweek, Verify This, and Politifact debunked the claim, stating that the video was fabricated and that there was no evidence to support the claim.

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Taylor Swift did not endorse Donald Trump at the Grammys 2024

On the evening of February 4, Taylor Swift made history after she won the Album of the Year at the Grammys 2024, becoming the first artist ever to win in the category four times. She also won the Best Pop Vocal Album. Both were for Midnights, her tenth studio album.

In the wake of her double win, speculation continued on social media whether she would re-endorse President Joe Biden for re-election, after the success of 2020. However, a video of the Blank Space singer emerged online showing her holding a pro-Trump flag on the red carpet of the awards ceremony, which has now garnered a lot of traction online.

Although the video seems to be authentic, Newsweek reported that it was manipulated, as evident from the lack of coverage from mainstream media. Moreover, Taylor Swift has previously criticized the former President and has never revealed any interest in endorsing him.

As per Verify This, the original video captured by Variety also shows the singer without any political memorabilia. It further reported that, unlike the fabricated video where Swift was seen with bare hands, she was originally wearing black gloves.

The pro-Trump flag that Taylor held in the edited video is available on eBay and Verify reported that the creases and shadows on it are the same, indicating that the flag image may have been taken from there. A close view of the fake clip also reveals that while Taylor’s hands remained still, the rest of her body kept moving.

Meanwhile, the original video published by Grammys 2024 which earlier went viral online, shows Taylor Swift walking the Grammys red carpet without holding the pro-Trump or anti-Democrat flag, as shown in the computer-generated footage.

It is also important to note that X user @PapiTrumpo, who first shared the clip online, did not mention anywhere that it was real, and may have used it for satire only.

This is not the first time a Taylor Swift edited image has surfaced online. Last week, conservative commentator Benny Johnson took to X and shared a similar picture of the Eras Tour singer, captioning it, “Is this real?” which also earned over 2.7 million views on the platform.

According to Newsweek, the picture was manipulated from a September 2023 appearance of the Miss Americana hitmaker at a match between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Chicago Bears at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. She was there cheering her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end.

Apart from her double win at Grammy Awards 2024, the Time Magazine Person of the Year 2023 also announced the launch date of her upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department, on April 19.