Global music star Taylor Swift officially endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in November’s presidential election on Tuesday night, announcing her support on Instagram just after the conclusion of Tuesday night’s debate between Harris and former President Donald Trump.
“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election,” Swift wrote in her post. “I’m voting for [Harris] because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. 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.”
This marks only the second time Swift has made a presidential endorsement. She also endorsed President Joe Biden about a month ahead of the 2020 election after previously keeping her political leanings largely quiet to her massive audience of fans.
Swift References AI Photos, ‘Childless Cat Ladies’ in Instagram Post
In her post, Swift talked about a key reason for her speaking up: the confusion that might be caused by AI posts providing false information about her plans for the election.
“Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site,” Swift wrote. “It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation.”
“The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth,” Swift said.
In a reference to comments made in 2021 by Republican Vice Presidential candidate and Ohio Senator JD Vance, Swift signed her post as “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady.” The photo accompanying the post also showed Swift holding a cat.
The impact of celebrity endorsements can be vastly overstated, and they rarely make a noticeable difference in presidential elections. However, if anyone has the ability to sway some measurable number of voters one way or another, it may be Swift.
The 14-time Grammy winner is coming towards the end of her Eras Tour, which has become the highest-grossing musical tour in history, surpassing more than $1 billion in revenue. Swift’s endorsement will be seen by her 283 million followers on Instagram, with the post attracting more than 4 million likes in about an hour.
Still, since the endorsement comes as no surprise, it may not provide a bump for Harris. Instead, it might be more important in the sense that it meets expectations, while the lack of such an endorsement could have been seen as a sign of weakness for the Democratic candidate.
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