Taylor Swift Endorses Harris for President After Debate

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(Bloomberg) — Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris Tuesday evening, minutes after the Democratic presidential nominee wrapped up her first debate against Republican challenger Donald Trump.

The move puts Harris in the shoes of a unique force in the music world, offering to boost her support among younger, female and gay voters. Aware of her ability to mobilize voters, Democrats have speculated for months that Swift was throwing her support behind their ticket.

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Swift calls herself the “childless cat lady,” a term used by Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance to demean women who don’t have children, and Swift announced her support in an Instagram post featuring a photo of herself standing with a cat in her arms.

Swift said she would vote for Harris “because she fights for rights and issues that I think need a warrior to fight for.”

“I think she’s a steady, talented leader and I think we can accomplish a lot in this country if we have calm leadership and not chaos,” she added.

She also praised Harris’s selection of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, saying she was “heartened and impressed” by a candidate who “has championed LGBT rights, IVF, and women’s rights to their own bodies for decades.”

Harris’s team was quick to seize on Swift’s endorsement. Quentin Foulkes, her deputy campaign manager, said the endorsement “means a lot to us.”

“It’s Taylor Swift. We respect her endorsement, and she was obviously watching and paying attention tonight,” Foulkes said.

The campaign shared its endorsement on its social media accounts and began taking pre-orders for Harris-Walls friendship bracelets, a nod to the gifts Swift’s fans exchange at her concerts.

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Walz said he was “so grateful” for Swift’s support in an appearance on MSNBC, urging her ardent fan base to join her in supporting the ticket. “Swifties, Kamala Harris.com. Get out there. Help us. Get to work,” he said.

The pop star’s diehard fans have been closely monitoring her social media accounts and public appearances for signs of her electoral allegiance. Swift endorsed President Joe Biden and Harris in 2020, and has made a number of other public statements in favor of Democratic politicians throughout her career.

Swift’s popularity has skyrocketed over the past year as she tours across the country and internationally, plays to packed stadiums, and begins a romantic relationship with Kansas City Chiefs football player Travis Kelce.

The success of her Iras tour propelled her to become America’s youngest self-made billionaire last year at age 33, according to an analysis by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Earlier: Taylor Swift rises to billionaire status thanks to her music empire

A blow to Trump

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Swift said Tuesday she was motivated to speak out after learning that Trump had used his social media accounts to share AI-generated images that made it appear she supported him.

“It really raised my concerns about AI and the risks of spreading misinformation,” she said. It also led her to conclude “that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter.”

Trump has been actively seeking Swift’s endorsement, announcing that he would sign as president the Music Modernization Act, which aims to protect musicians’ copyrights, a cause for which the pop star has been an outspoken advocate.

In February — when Biden was a front-runner for the Democratic nomination — Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform: “Joe Biden has done nothing for Taylor and never will. There is no way she can endorse Corrupt Joe Biden, the worst, most corrupt President in the history of our Country, and be disloyal to the man who made her so much money.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom warned Trump against criticizing Swift’s endorsement.

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“Don’t underestimate this endorsement. It’s a cultural icon. Something big has happened in the world in terms of the energy and the vitality associated with it, the optimism associated with it,” Newsom told reporters.

Swift also announced her endorsement for the 2020 election to coincide with a debate, making the announcement after Harris faced off against then-Vice President Mike Pence.

“This was so appropriate that it was released on the night of the VP debate. I will be watching and supporting @KamalaHarris by screaming at the TV a lot,” she wrote that year in a post on X — then known as Twitter. “And I have custom cookies too,” she said, referring to desserts bearing the names of Democratic candidates.

Her first foray into political discourse this year was a post encouraging fans to vote in the primary election, which will be held on Super Tuesday, March 5.

She has faced intense criticism from pro-Harris fans, including some who call themselves “Kamala Swifties,” since Sunday, when she was photographed hugging Brittany Mahomes, the wife of one of Kelce’s teammates, at the U.S. Open. In August, Mahomes liked an Instagram post by Trump that included a list of 20 issues he wanted to prioritize in his second term.

In 2018, Swift publicly endorsed Democratic candidate Phil Bredesen for the U.S. Senate seat from Tennessee against Republican Marsha Blackburn. She referred to Blackburn, who won the race, as “Trump in a wig” in a 2020 documentary, criticizing the lawmaker’s positions on civil rights protections for same-sex couples, women’s wages, and anti-domestic violence legislation.

– With the assistance of Maria Paula Mijares Torres.

(Updates with additional feedback, details in paragraphs 6-8, 17-18)

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