Megyn Kelly Deems Donald Trump’s ‘Fake Crowd’ Theory on Kamala Harris 'So Un-smart, So Dumb'

Conservative commentator, Megyn Kelly, criticized former President Donald Trump for spreading a false conspiracy theory about Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump had said that a photo of a large crowd at Harris' recent rally was fabricated using artificial intelligence. On her radio show, she described Trump's assertions as "so unsmart, so dumb." She reasoned that there was just no proof behind his claims.

The photo in question showed thousands of supporters gathered outside Air Force Two, the vice president's plane, at a recent rally in Detroit. Trump had insisted on social media, "Look, we caught her with a fake 'crowd'. There was nobody there!" But Kelly was not buying it. She pointed out how unlikely it would be for so many people to be involved in such a deception. "There were all these other pictures from people who were actually there that showed the huge…like are they all in on it?" she asked incredulously. "Like, everyone who showed up got an AI filter that they put on? So stupid," as per the Daily Mail. 

The former Fox News host urged Trump to focus on more important issues. "Just focus on the damn border!" she exclaimed. Kelly was not alone in her criticism. Matt Welch, editor of Reason Magazine, sarcastically suggested that Trump's fixation on crowd sizes would not help him win over voters. "If Trump spends more time complaining about depictions of the crowd size at Kamala Harris rallies, that is going to really seal the deal for him," he predicted. "That is going to get the swing state voters!" he added, as per The Tyler Morning Telegraph. 

In reality, the photo was genuine. Getty Images photographer Andrew Harnick, who took the picture, defended its authenticity. 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." Fact-checkers also debunked Trump's suggestions. Snopes reported that an AI detector found the image to be "96 percent human," meaning it was likely a real photograph. Other news outlets also confirmed that thousands of excited supporters attended the event.

Subsequently, Kelly expressed concern about Trump's recent poll numbers. She noted that his support has dropped "across the board" in both Left-leaning and Right-leaning polls. "This is reality," she stressed, "and the Trump team needs to deal with reality if it wants to win." The Harris campaign took advantage of Trump's false allegations. They shared the photo on social media and penned, "This is an actual photo of a 15,000-person crowd for Harris-Walz in Michigan." Taking a jab at Trump's age, they added, "Trump has still not campaigned in a swing state in over a week...Low energy?"