Taylor Swift, always known for her flair for dramatic moments, finally endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race on Tuesday night.
Shortly after the first debate between Harris and former President Donald Trump, Swift posted her support on InstagramA now almost equally famous cat posing with him along with a picture of himself Meanwhile, Harris left the stage after playing Swift’s feminist anthem “The Man” at her post-controversy party. The full approval was a carefully choreographed move that came after nearly a year of speculation, frustration and confusion from political watchers.
“I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for rights and because I believe they need a fighter to champion them,” Swift wrote, urging her followers to do their own research and make their own choices. She signed off with a jab at VP nominee Sen. J.D. Vance’s infamous “cat lady” sound bite: “Taylor Swift, childless cat lady.”
In the post, Swift stated unequivocally that she was voting for Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, because of their support for feminist issues such as “LGBTQ+ rights, IVF and a woman’s right over her own body.” At the same time, he makes room for potentially millions of fans who may not feel the same way.
“If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues you have and the positions these candidates take on the issues that matter most to you,” Swift wrote. “As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country.”
His approval drew cheers in some quarters, as well as vitriol in others. Elon Musk had perhaps the most bizarre and off-putting response. “Good Taylor…you win…I’ll give you a baby and protect your cats with my life” Kasturi wrote in X.
Viewers have been breathlessly speculating all year about when and if Swift will weigh in on the election. In January, after Swift began her highly publicized romance with NFL star Travis Kelce, conservatives theorized that Swift was a deep-state psychic. The idea was that her relationship with Kelce was a ploy to sap her popularity so that her eventual endorsement of Joe Biden, then the Democratic nominee, would be more influential.
In the same month, the New York Times reported that The Biden campaign was actively courting Swift’s endorsementAnd he was their “biggest and most influential” target. “A fundraising appeal from Ms. Swift could be worth millions of dollars to Mr. Biden,” the Times noted.
Trump, predictably, bristled at the idea. “There is no way the worst and most corrupt president in our country’s history can support Crooked Joe Biden and be unfaithful to the man who made him so much money,” She posted on Truth Social in FebruaryApparently referring to his role in signing the Music Modernization Act.
After Harris became the Democratic nominee in July, he received A metal of celebrity endorsement From the likes of Charli XCX, Megan Thee Stallion, and Cardi B. Beyoncé even allowed Harris to use her song “Freedom” in a campaign ad, a genuine endorsement from one of pop culture’s most powerful elusive figures. Reading the tea leaves of a potential Swift endorsement became a fever-pitch and chaotic guessing game in the months that followed.
In August, rumors swirled over an Instagram post by Swift, in which Swift was pictured next to a silhouette of a strong-shouldered woman on stage at one of her concerts. To some observers, it seemed Swift photoshopped Harris The shadow in the frame as an Easter egg informs the sharp sight of his approval will be forthcoming. He hadn’t: the woman was one of his backup dancers.
Some Swift fans caution patience. On the occasions that Swift has made political endorsements in the past, she has usually done so relatively late in the race. In 2016, he was not supported at all. In 2018, he got involved politically for the first time, Supporting the Democrats Phil Bredesen and Jim Cooper for Congress on Oct. 7, two days before the voter registration deadline in Tennessee. In 2020, Swift similarly endorsed Joe Biden on October 7. Expecting an endorsement in August, his fans said, was too early for him.
Still, there was a growing outrage among some of his fans as the months wore on. Trump shared A series of AI-generated images Falsely claiming that Swift endorsed him, but Swift said nothing. Her new friend Brittany Mahomes has come out in support of Trump, But Swift publicly embraced him Soon after the high photograph at the US Open.
The fervor with which people have speculated about what Swift will do is interesting, as celebrity political endorsements seem to be a mixed bag with relatively narrow implications. As Li Zhou reports for Vox, celebrities can be good at getting people to pay attention to a race or to increase excitement about a candidate that people are already interested in, but they’re not necessarily good at changing people’s minds across party lines.
You might be more likely to tune in to the DNC if you think Swift or Beyoncé are showing up, but there’s little evidence that their presence can turn you from an undecided voter to a committed Harris supporter. At best, celebrity endorsements can convince some otherwise disaffected people to turn up and vote.
At worst, there is some evidence that Celebrity endorsements galore for Hillary Clinton 2016 hurt rather than helped him, reinforcing the sense that he was the candidate of the liberal elite. That’s why Swift said she decided not to endorse Clinton. “Unfortunately in the 2016 election you had a political opponent who weaponized the idea of celebrity endorsement,” Swift told Vogue in 2019. “He was going around saying, I am a people person. I am for you. i think about you I just knew I wasn’t going to help.”
Swift’s past political activities have generally followed the pattern you’d expect from the data: good for overall political engagement, less good for any given political candidate. He’s great about registering people to vote. Last year, a single Instagram story from him led to a Voter registration increased by 23 percent. In 2018, a similar Instagram post led to 65,000 new registrations within 24 hours.
Swift seems to know her strength here. Tuesday’s Instagram post supporting Harris included a reminder to make sure her fans are registered to vote, and an Instagram story linked fans to Vote.gov.
However, despite Swift’s approval, Phil Bredesen lost his 2018 campaign handily for the Tennessee Senate. Swift may move the needle for him, but not enough to get a Democratic senator elected in a red state.
The 2024 presidential election is expected to be much closer. “Biden’s electoral vote majorities were less than 50,000 votes in three states four years ago”. As noted by the Washington Post in August 2018. “Getting a small portion of the huge Taylor Swift fan base to vote that wouldn’t otherwise? It’s hard to dismiss the idea that this could tip the balance.”
Still, given the mixed track record, it’s fair to ask why people are so worked up about Swift’s political endorsements.
There are basically two reasons behind this fascination. The first is his image. The second is his height.
Swift has played with pop feminism for much of her career. In 2014, she announced that she identifies as a feminist and its location 1989 Tour, girl squad and all, as a feminist act. When he was mocked at the Golden Globes, She is an anti-feminist declaration of humor.
After her public downfall in 2016, Swift somewhat restored her image by leaning into politics. His 2020 documentary Miss Americana A scene shows Swift crying as she pleads with her father and management team to join her Democrats-supporting Congress. “I need to be on the right side of history!” Shortly after the encounter she cries, she releases her song “The Man”, in which she argues that she comes under public criticism because of her gender.
This led many of Swift’s fans to expect her to walk. It’s worth starting so many sentences with “as a woman in this industry,” they argue, that you also have something to say when a known sex offender who ends up Roe v. Wade Running for president against a woman campaigning on a platform of reproductive rights. Swift’s continued silence after Trump used AI to speak for her worried those fans.
With this new endorsement, Swift can reassure her fans that she’s still got her feminist beliefs, even if she’s worded them carefully to give her more Trump-leaning fans room for reasonable denial.
“Given … how much mileage Swift has gotten in the past from her decisions to speak out about politics, the idea that she’ll remain silent would seem to come at a more opportune moment to speak out about her past,” Danielle D’Addario wrote for Variety earlier this week. “It would be sad if his involvement with the world of politics was of another era, and one he was willing to move on from.”
With this new endorsement, Swift can reassure her fans that she’s still got her feminist beliefs, even as she articulates them carefully to give her more Trump-leaning fans room for plausible deniability. She has successfully beaten back charges of hypocrisy and bandwagon feminism, and her star can shine bright.
The big reason many are concerned about Swift’s endorsement, however, is her singular stature in the pop culture landscape. Taylor Swift has been a huge star for years, but with the success of the Eras tour, she’s ascended to a new level of superstardom and cultural saturation. Political watchers think Swift has become so powerful that she has a say—so can actually move the needle in a meaningful direction.
Swift probably won’t change many minds, as no celebrity can. But celebrities are good at activating voters on the margins, and Swift’s reach is broad enough right now that her influence there could make a real difference in November.
Just the possibility that he might seem threatening to someone on the right: see Musk’s response to “Given [Swift] a child.”
She’s apparently responding to Swift calling herself a “childless cat lady.” But his proposal also contains a crudely implied threat: Let me knock you up so you stop talking.
In an election cycle laced with misogynistic rhetoric, Swift’s careful, carefully phrased endorsements were enough to make her a target for threats from one of the world’s richest men. Musk’s post is a telling one that even Swift’s most measured political speech could be a threat to a political movement armed against women taking control of their bodies and voices — and Swift’s voice is louder than most.
