Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
“Taylor Swift, one of the music industry’s biggest stars, endorsed Kamala Harris for president shortly after the presidential debate ended. ‘I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos,’ Swift wrote late Tuesday in an Instagram post, which included a link to a voter registration website.” AP News
The left praises Swift’s decision to endorse Harris.
“Swift’s endorsement was incredibly restrained. She made a positive case for the Democrats’ policy platform on the issues she cares about, with only a glancing reference to Trump’s ‘chaos,’ and ended with a suggestion that fans register to vote, do their own research, and make their own choices… If the former president is upset, he has only himself to blame…
“Swift’s statement refers to ‘the dangers of spreading misinformation’ and her fears about the misuse of artificial intelligence. She mentions Trump’s decision to post fake AI images on Truth Social of ‘Swifties for Trump,’ a parade of eerily similar blond women holding signs supporting him. Trump’s caption said, ‘I accept!’—which might read as a joke if his entire campaign strategy did not involve blurring the line between fact and fiction.”
Helen Lewis, The Atlantic
“One Trump surrogate told Rolling Stone about waging a ‘holy war’ against Swift… [A] manosphere podcaster commented on Swift’s Person of the Year Time cover by saying, ‘It’s shameful and sad that a hyper-promiscuous, childless woman, aging and alone with a cat, has become the heroine of a feminist age.’ Another, Charlie Kirk, asked his fellow podcasters whether Swift had any eggs left…
“Such rhetoric might once have seemed the provenance of a chauvinistic fringe, yet in 2024, the Republicans chose a vice-presidential candidate, J. D. Vance, who has openly mocked ‘childless cat ladies.’… In 2024, [Swift is] more than just another entertainer voting blue. She is the celebrity who best encapsulates the tensions that this particular election seems to be coming down to: the reality of, and backlash to, feminine power and independence in America.”
Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic
“The truth is that [celebrity endorsements] typically don’t typically move the election needle very much… The most prominent exception was [Oprah Winfrey], who in December 2007 endorsed Barack Obama for president… [Two economists] estimated that her endorsement brought more than one million additional votes to Obama during the Democratic primaries…
“Will the Swift endorsement create a ‘Winfrey moment’ for the vice president? Swift has 283 million fans on Instagram and 95 million on X… Her music ranges from pop to country, and her romantic relationship with NFL star Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs gives her some credence with male football fans, a demographic where Trump is strong and Harris tends to be weak… In a close race, little things matter.”
Darrell West, USA Today
The right is skeptical that Swift’s endorsement will have a significant impact.
The right is skeptical that Swift’s endorsement will have a significant impact.
“Taylor Swift has the same right as the rest of us to prioritize which issues matter most to her and to use her mega-sized platform to share those priorities with her legion of fans. But she ignores virtually all of the most pressing challenges facing our country (and the world), focusing almost entirely on abortion and LGBTQ rights…
“I have to wonder if we've truly reached a point in our nation's history where the endorsement of a pop star could truly impact the final voting decisions of any significant number of people. And if so, what does that say about American society at large?…
“We'll need to wait for a cycle or two before we find out if she had any real impact. Even then, it will be hard to suss out whether the shift was caused by Swift or by Kamala's (slightly better than disastrous) performance at the debate that did it. But it remains highly worrisome to say the least. An unserious American government elected by unserious pop-music fans is not the shining city on the hill that our allies are awaiting.”
Jazz Shaw, Hot Air
“Despite the magnitude of Swift’s profile, the premature endorsement may lose its potency before Election Day. While it may provide a short-term boost for fundraising toward Democrats and general voter registration, the momentum will fade, as with any other celebrity’s support. Remember when singer-songwriter Charli XCX endorsed Harris, claiming July and August as ‘brat summer’? Trends don’t last forever, and neither does political momentum, no matter the size of the wave…
“It doesn’t help the Democratic ticket that Swift’s endorsement comes as no surprise… Whereas Swift’s prior endorsements sent shockwaves because she was mostly apolitical, this year her Democratic loyalty has been all but assumed. Since 2020, she has supported abortion access, made political protest songs, and called for Juneteenth to be a national holiday. She has a track record of backing the Democrats and their agenda; rallying behind Harris isn’t anything new or revolutionary.”
Alex Rosado, Washington Examiner
“While there's definitely a solid chunk of Swift's fan base that would vote the way she tells them to, these were women who already knew of Swift's bias and were likely going to vote for Harris anyway, if they were planning to vote at all. Moreover, many Americans aren't going to be swayed by Swift's endorsement just by virtue of the fact that Swift isn't going to swoop in and make their financial burden any lighter.”
Brandon Morse, RedState
