Democrats are embracing Taylor Swift\u2019s endorsement of Kamala Harris for president, calling the megastar\u2019s backing \u201chuge\u201d for her campaign \u2014 while some Republicans were quick to dismiss it and others warned her against alienating Donald Trump voters.<\/p>\n
The pop star \u2014 one of the most famous celebrities in the world \u2014 waded into the contentious 2024 election with a message to her 283 million Instagram followers shortly after the debate between Vice President Harris and former president Trump ended Tuesday night, saying she \u201cfights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.\u201d Her decision to speak out came after Trump embraced AI-generated images of Swift appearing to endorse him, saying this \u201creally conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim Walz, Harris\u2019s vice-presidential candidate, as he learned the news live on MSNBC, said \u201cthat\u2019s the type of courage we need in America.\u201d Patting his heart and grinning, Walz said he was \u201cincredibly grateful\u201d to Swift for her \u201celoquent\u201d and \u201cclear\u201d message. Walz called on Swifties \u2014 as fans of the pop star are known \u2014 to \u201cgive us a hand, get things going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Swift\u2019s endorsement post racked up nearly 2.5 million likes within a half-hour as reactions poured in. It was shared over 1 million times within six hours.<\/p>\n
Swift\u2019s fans could become a force in the presidential election. The singer and performer has surged in popularity and is viewed increasingly favorably by most American men, women and Democrats, and her favorability improved since the last election cycle among independents and Republicans. In a May poll, 1 in 10 women, Americans under 35 and independents said that a Swift endorsement might influence their vote at least a little \u2014 and as The Washington Post\u2019s Philip Bump previously wrote in a column, \u201cthis is probably overstated, but a Swiftian nudge would not do nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is a cultural icon,\u201d California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) told reporters about Swift after the debate, warning Trump to disparage Swift\u2019s endorsement \u201cat your own peril.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHer speaking out is a big darn deal,\u201d said Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D). \u201cThat\u2019s a huge endorsement.\u201d<\/p>\n
A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Trump said little when asked by reporters about Swift\u2019s endorsement of his rival. \u201cI have no idea,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Brian Hughes, Trump campaign\u2019s spokesman, declined to comment, saying, \u201cI\u2019m not a teeny-bopper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said he liked Swift\u2019s music but wanted \u201cto live in a world where liberals make my art and conservatives make my laws.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conservative media personality Megyn Kelly called Swift\u2019s endorsement \u201cdisgusting\u201d and said it would cost the pop star support among Republicans. \u201cYou can kiss your sales to the Republican audience goodbye, Taylor. Hope you enjoyed them while you had them,\u201d she said on \u201cThe Megyn Kelly Show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Dallas County GOP chair Jennifer Stoddard-Hajdu questioned how many of Swift\u2019s fans vote and said on local ABC affiliate television station WFAA, \u201cI don\u2019t think a pop star or Hollywood is going to be a big factor in this election.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2020, Swift had endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket, and many fans of Swift had been waiting breathlessly to see if the pop star would back Harris in this election. Swifties have already been lining up behind Harris even before the endorsement. More than 34,000 joined the \u201cSwifties for Kamala\u201d call in August and raised more than $122,000.<\/p>\n
The account Swifties for Kamala, which has over 77,000 followers on X, said it was \u201cthrilled\u201d about Swift\u2019s endorsement and added, \u201cwe never doubted Taylor would endorse at the right time because we know that her values align with Harris and our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alongside her endorsement, Swift posted a photo of herself with her pet cat Benjamin Button, and signed off as a \u201cchildless cat lady\u201d \u2014 embracing the phrase that Trump\u2019s vice-presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), has used to criticize people without kids.<\/p>\n
Democrats hailed the timing of the announcement, coming at the back of what they described as a strong debate performance from Harris. MSNBC anchor Lawrence O\u2019Donnell called it \u201cthe most important celebrity endorsement\u201d he had ever seen given the tight race. \u201cThe timing on it is absolutely exquisite, the wording of it is flawless,\u201d he said on air.<\/p>\n
Praising Harris\u2019s debate performance, late-night show host Stephen Colbert said that nothing could have made tonight any better for the vice president. But after playing a clip of Swift\u2019s endorsement news, he added: \u201cI stand corrected.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Democrats are embracing Taylor Swift\u2019s endorsement of Kamala Harris for president, calling the megastar\u2019s backing \u201chuge\u201d for her campaign \u2014 while some Republicans were quick to dismiss it and others warned her against alienating Donald Trump voters. The pop star \u2014 one of the most famous celebrities in the world \u2014 waded into the contentious […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":9360,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}