Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris for president on Tuesday night, calling her a “steadfast, gifted leader.”
Despite months of calls for the singer — whose public image is carefully managed — to announce that she would speak out about the presidential race, Swift pulled the trigger after the Sept. 10 debate in Philadelphia between Harris and Donald Trump. In a post on Instagram, where she has 283 million followers, she wrote that she believes the country can achieve more “when we are guided by calm and not chaos.”
For the 34-year-old, who signed her first recording contract at age 15 to record country and pop music, sharing her political views on a global scale has evolved from radio silence to considered support.
What did Swift say in her post?
“Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight,” Swift began. “I will be voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 presidential election. I am voting for Kamala Harris because she fights for the rights and causes that I believe need a warrior to defend.”
Swift said she did her research before making her decision, and urged her fans to do the same. She wrote, “Your research is entirely yours, and the choice is yours.”
She referenced how in August, “an AI of ‘me’ that falsely endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign was posted on his site” and that the spread of misinformation “led me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my real plans for this election as a voter.”
Swift also praised Harris’s pick for VP, Tim Walz, because “he’s been advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and women’s right to their own bodies for decades.”
Swift closed her post by captioning it, “Childless Cat Lady,” a reference to Trump running mate J.D. Vance’s polarizing comment about childless women. It included a photo — from her 2023 Time magazine Person of the Year photo shoot in which she held her cat Benjamin Button.
How have politicians responded?
After the debate, Trump was asked about Swift’s support for Harris, to which he replied, “I have no idea.”
On Wednesday, after sleeping on it, he called Fox & Friends with a typical sneer: “I actually like Ms. Mahomes a lot better, if you want to know the truth.”
It was a reference to Swift’s girlfriend Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, who has supported Trump on social media. Swift was criticized over the weekend for her interactions with Brittany in light of her Trump support during a date with Travis Kelce at the US Open. It appears Swift’s line in her statement about “the choice is yours” was playing into the public narrative on the matter.
Following Swift’s show of support, Harris left the stage during her debate viewing party to the entertainer’s feminist anthem “The Man.”
Harris-Walz friendship bracelets are now available for purchase.
Meanwhile, Walz, who heard Swift’s show of support during a live appearance on MSNBC, including her specific praise for him, said he was “grateful” for the support. He said “that’s the kind of courage we need in America, to stand up.”
Swift’s political evolution
Swift started out as a country musician and kept her political views to herself until the 2018 midterm elections in her home state of Tennessee, when she supported Democrat Phil Bredesen for Senate over Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn.
Her 2020 Netflix documentary Mrs America showed Swift finding her voice when it comes to politics. She criticized Blackburn’s voting record on minorities and LBGTQ rights, saying she could no longer remain silent. She held a sit-down with her team before pulling the trigger with a social media post.
“I can’t see any other commercials [with] her disguising of this policy behind the words ‘Tennessee Christian values.’ I live in Tennessee. I’m a Christian. That’s not what we stand for,” Swift told the group, which included her parents. “I have to be on the right side of history.”
Though it was a milestone she nervously celebrated — she and her publicist toasted with champagne once Swift released her work — she said she worried her career would suffer if she spoke out, just as it did for the band the Chicks.
Although Blackburn won that election, that didn’t stop Swift from endorsing Biden and Harris in 2020. The announcement came the night of the vice presidential debate, and it was sweet, cookie included.
The internet has been clamoring all year for Swift’s official endorsement for 2024. In February, Trump declared there was “no way” Swift would back Biden. Trump mistakenly thought she was backing him in August amid the AI debacle. When Harris became the nominee, after Biden withdrew and Harris endorsed him in July, the clamor for Swift’s endorsement grew louder. It appears she waited for the right moment.
Her fans began to mobilize before she did. Though not affiliated with Swift, they launched @Swifties4Kamala on social media — described as a “coalition of Swifties ready to mobilize Taylor Swift fans to get Democratic candidates elected” in its bio — and threw their support behind the VP after Biden withdrew.
Swift’s Impact on Voter Registration
Someone as influential as Swift is clearly a boost for Harris, but it’s unlikely she’ll change the outcome of the election. What she has done, and can take credit for, is boost voter registration.
Her political coming out in 2018 led to more than 100,000 people registering to vote on Vote.org within 48 hours.
In 2023, Swift used National Voting Day to once again urge people to register to vote. Vote.org said there were more than 35,000 new registrations, a new record.
In her Sept. 10 post, Swift again urged people to register to vote, referring them to Vote.org. Yahoo Entertainment has reached out to the organization and will share new registration details as they become available.
