On Jan. 28, 2024, a screenshot of a post purportedly from Taylor Swift's official X account went viral, claiming she referred to former U.S. President Donald Trump using an expletive.
The screenshot was shared by X account Faith Back Rub. The full post in the screenshot read: "We love each other. And I don't mean me and Travis. That's a real quote from Trump about him and the dictator of China. Wake up people, the man is literally every anti-American dictator's side b****."
(@FaithRubPol/X)
The post originated from an account that is satirical in nature. We found no evidence Swift's official X account ever shared such a statement.
The bottom of the screenshot has the date "Jan. 200, 2024" and is labeled "Parody." Furthermore, Swift's official X account is @TaylorSwift13, while the screenshot shows the account "@taylorswaft13."
The description for the X account that posted the screenshot states: "Opposed Trump since 2015. Aimed this Christian Apologetics page at fascism. Most of the images we share are parodies."
Swift has criticized Trump before, posting on her X account on May 29, 2020: "After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? 'When the looting starts the shooting starts'??? We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump."
Her post was a response to Trump's criticism of protesters who took to the streets after George Floyd, a Black man, died when a white police officer knelt on his neck. Twitter hid Trump's post, which called the protesters "THUGS" and added "when the looting starts, the shooting starts."
Trump did praise China in January 2020, while in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum. He described how U.S.-China relations had "probably never, ever been better." He said of President Xi Jinping: "He's for China, I'm for the U.S., but other than that, we love each other."
For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.