Following the first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump, singer-songwriter superstar, Taylor Swift announced her endorsement of Harris for the presidency via Instagram. Caroline Leicht writes that Swift’s support for Harris and explanation – coupled with her countering of the Trump campaign’s misinformation about her support – is important as it carries a great deal of weight among her fans and so could have a substantial effect on the presidential election. 

• This article is part of ‘The 2024 Elections’ series curated by Peter Finn (Kingston University). Ahead of the 2024 election, this series is exploring US elections at the state and national level. If you are interested in contributing to the series, contact Peter Finn (p.finn@kingston.ac.uk)

“Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady.” Five words that perhaps had the most impact on social media on debate night. As I wrote on this blog in February singer-songwriter Taylor Swift’s endorsement has been one of the most sought-after prizes of this election cycle, and across party lines. After last night, the winner of this prize is now Vice President Kamala Harris. Swift, who currently enjoys substantial levels of fame, took to Instagram after the debate to share her endorsement of Harris. In just a few paragraphs, Swift made her political positions in this election cycle very clear – and to borrow from Swift’s own lyrics, “None of it was accidental.”

Swift’s political power is well-known and can broadly be understood in three ways: First, her political statements have effects on political engagement, with her past statements on state and national campaigns leading to significant surges in voter registrations. Second, when Swift speaks about politics, she usually gets specific. She provides political information to her audience and raises awareness for key issues by highlighting policies that are close to her heart and sharing what the candidates she is supporting stand for. Third, having fostered strong parasocial relationships with her fans over the course of her career, her opinion has more weight. As parasocial relationships theory explains, a perceived closeness with a celebrity makes fans more likely to follow their recommendations, including on political issues and vote choices.

A Childless Cat Lady for Kamala Harris 

Swift is certainly not unaware of the power this gives her, and her statement on Tuesday was perfectly tailored to this moment in the campaign. Swift chose a picture of herself and her cat Benji which was part of the photoshoot for her Time Person of the Year 2023 cover. She called out Donald Trump and misinformation spread about her own political views, shared her endorsement of Harris and Tim Walz and their policy platforms, provided information about voter registration, and encouraged her followers to research the candidates and their positions before voting in November.

Finally, she signed the post “with love and hope” and identified herself as a “childless cat lady”, a reference to Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance’s comments that resurfaced over the summer and have since been turned into a rallying cry for Kamala Harris supporters, particularly on social media. As was perhaps her intention, Swift’s use of the phrase has given renewed attention to the remarks of Donald Trump’s running mate and has sparked further conversations about the underlying policy issues of IVF and a woman’s right to choose, two policy issues that Swift highlighted in her post as well.

In her endorsement of the Democratic ticket, Swift not only states her general support but clearly explains what drove her choice. Alongside IVF and a woman’s right to choose, she highlights LGBTQ+ rights. This links back to the roots of her public political engagement and statements. In her 2020 documentary, Miss Americana, Swift discussed how the political developments in the US since the 2016 election led to her decision to break her political silence while also discussing LGBTQ+ rights and her Pride-themed music video for the song “You Need To Calm Down” from her 2019 album Lover. 

Harris uses Swift song and references in campaign 

It was another song from that album that Kamala Harris used at her post-debate appearance on Tuesday: “The Man”, one in which Swift imagines what it would be like to be a man instead of woman in a society still largely dominated by patriarchy and sexism. Social media users had previously suggested that Harris should start using this song, fitting for a campaign dominated by gendered stereotypes and sexist attacks. This sentiment was also picked up on by Swift, who deliberately described Harris as a “warrior” and “steady-handed, gifted leader,” descriptors that can often be categorized as stereotypically masculine.

“Taylor Swift” (CC BY-NC 2.0) by rwoan; “Kamala Harris” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Gage Skidmore

The song choice was not the only acknowledgment of Swift’s endorsement by the Harris campaign, though. Shortly after Swift made her post, the official Harris-Walz store started selling friendship bracelets, asking whether voters were “ready for it.” The latter is a play on Swift’s song of the same name while the friendship bracelets are a nod to Swifties (as fans of Swift call themselves) making and trading friendship bracelets at Swift’s The Eras Tour in honor of a lyric in Swift’s song “You’re On Your Own, Kid.”

Swift wants to counter misinformation spread by Trump 

Prior to her Instagram post on Tuesday, Swift had been the subject of criticism on social media and in opinion pieces of large media outlets as she had appeared at the US Open alongside former soccer player and team owner, Brittany Mahomes, who has recently been associated with pro-Trump sentiments. Many fans and journalists called for Swift to make her own position clear, particularly given her large influence in past election cycles in the United States. While her statement has made her vote choice undoubtedly clear, Swift notably left room for differing political opinions in her post: “Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make.”

Despite this room for differing opinions, her endorsement of Harris has already sparked outrage among Republicans. Trump himself shared a statement since Swift’s post, claiming he never liked Swift and “actually like[s] Mrs. Mahomes much better” and that Swift would “pay a price for it in the marketplace.” Statements such as this mark a curious turn from his previous quest for Swift’s endorsement – he claimed in February that Swift would not be “disloyal” to him and went as far as to share AI-generated images of Swift, falsely implying that she had endorsed him for President a few weeks ago.

In her own post on Tuesday, Swift said Trump’s actions “conjured up [her] fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation.” She went on to say that these recent events had led her to the conclusion that sharing her support for Harris and Walz was the simplest and only way to combat such deliberate misinformation. Given previous effects and what we are already observing now, Swift’s statement will undoubtedly have substantial effects on the campaign and the discourse from and around the candidates.

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