Taylor Swift has officially made her endorsement for president.
Swift posted to Instagram Tuesday night in the immediate aftermath of the debate, announcing that she will be voting for Vice President Kamala Harris.
"I'm voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them," Swift posted to Instagram. "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. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman's right to her own body for decades."
Gov. Tim Walz reacted to the endorsement immediately.
"I'm grateful to Taylor Swift and I say that as a cat owner," he said. "That was eloquent and clear and that's the type of courage we need in America."
Harris' deputy campaign manager also acknowledged that the campaign has seen the post.
The campaign is already selling Swift-like merchandise reminiscent of the friendship bracelets traded at the singer's concerts. A two-pack is for sale for $20 and is available for preorder.
Swift said in her post that she hopes her fans also do their research like she has done.
"Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered!" Swift posted. "I also find it's much easier to vote early. I'll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story."
Swift signed her post "Taylor Swift, childless cat lady," a call back to what Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance said in 2021. In an interview with then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Vance, who was a Senate candidate at the time, complained that the country was being run by Democrats, corporate oligarchs and "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too."
In her endorsement, Swift also responded to the use of artificial intelligence images of her by former President Donald Trump to make it look like she endorsed him.
"It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation," Swift said. "It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth."
Trump posted to Truth Social images of the pop singer dressed like Uncle Sam, similar to a World War I recruitment poster, with the words: "Taylor Swift Wants You To Vote For Donald Trump."
Trump captioned the post on his Truth Social account with the words: "I accept!"
Trump later told Fox Business that he didn't know anything about the images.
"I don't know anything about them, other than somebody else generated them," Trump said. "I didn't generate them. Somebody came out. They said, oh, look at this. These were all made up by other people. A.I. is always very dangerous in that way. It's happening with me too. They're making — having me speak. I speak perfectly, I mean, absolutely perfectly on A.I., and I'm, like, endorsing other products and things. It's a little bit dangerous out there."
In 2020, Swift accused Trump of "stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism" and putting "millions of Americans' lives at risk in an effort to hold on to power."
Before then, the pop star was famously apolitical but has become more vocal about her positions in recent years, endorsing President Joe Biden in 2020.
Fans have already quickly responded to Swift's post. While she limited comments on her Instagram, fans have taken to other social media platforms and are widely sharing her post. Lots are writing "Boom!" on X, formerly known as Twitter. Others called it "perfect timing."
Over 20,000 Swifties joined a Zoom webinar kickoff call with Swifties for Kamala on August 27. The group raised over $122,000 for Harris and Walz's campaign with the likes of other big-name fans like Representatives Becca Balint and Chris Deluzio, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren, and Carole King.
"First of all, I am a Swiftie," King said, adding that Swift is her "music granddaughter. "I also want to say that I'm excited about Kamala because so many people are excited about Kamala."
Swifties for Kamala, a grassroots group of Taylor Swift fans working to get to elect "the 1" to push for "Change" started immediately after President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential election.
Emerald Medrano, a 22-year-old Swiftie from Texas, decided to take action.
"I feel like us US swifties should mass organize and help campaign for Kamala Harris and spread how horrendous Project 2025 would be to help get people's butts down to the polls in November," he posted.
The same day, the coalition started. Within a week, Swifties for Kamala had tens of thousands of followers on social media—the Swifties 4 Kamala TikTok account has almost 122,000 followers now.
"I began S4K because I believe in the best parts of Swifties," Medrano said. "In our kindness, our humor, our passion. I knew that, as Swifties, we could unite and create something beautiful."
The Swifties for Kamala substack has resources for people to become poll workers, learn "what's at stake" with Project 2025 and sign up for phone banking. It has posted about reproductive freedom, the child tax, LGBTQ+ rights and a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Update 09/10/24 11:40 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
