Taylor Swift surprised no one when she publicly endorsed the Democratic nominee last week. The pop star, whose entire song library is about her horrible choices, endorsed Kamala Harris in November.
The media made it sound like a Swift endorsement would be a prize for the lucky party who received it. They also pretended her choice would be a mystery. Not only was her choice far from surprising, but it may not have given the Harris campaign the boost it needed.
Right after the presidential debate between Harris and former President Donald Trump, Swift ended weeks of speculation by publicly backing Harris. According to post-debate polls, 46 percent said Harris won, and 22 percent thought it would help her chances of winning the election.
By contrast, 19 percent of people believed Trump won the debate, but the poll also revealed that it didn’t matter. Only 6% said they changed their vote because of the debate, while 76% stuck with their original choice.
Swift pointed to an AI-generated post of her allegedly endorsing Trump. The post alarmed her and made her suspicious of the potential for AI to “spread misinformation.” Swift said her best course was to come out publicly with her endorsement.
Swift said Harris fights for the rights and causes she believes need voters’ strong support. She ended her post by referring to herself as a “Childless Cat Lady,” a nod to comments made by Trump’s running mate, JD Vance.
The use of Democrat language such as “misinformation” proves that Swift was lost long ago.
The pop princess encouraged her 284 million Instagram followers to register to vote. Her post led to 400,000 people visiting the vote.gov website in less than 24 hours.
It’s no secret that celebrity endorsements can move the needle for a candidate. But the benefit isn’t guaranteed. It depends on the star’s popularity. According to a report by The Telegraph, Oprah Winfrey’s support added a million votes to Barack Obama’s total. However, endorsements from Angelina Jolie and George Clooney didn’t have a measurable effect on the pro-Obama vote in 2010.
A recent YouGov poll found that only 8% of voters said Swift’s support would make them “somewhat” or “much more” likely to vote for Harris. On the other hand, 20% said they would be less likely to vote for her because of Swift’s endorsement.
The polling results echo a similar ABC News survey. According to that poll, 81 percent of voters said Swift’s support for Vice President Harris won’t change their vote. Only six percent said they were more likely to vote for Harris because of Swift’s post, while 13 percent said they were less likely to vote for her.
In the book “Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass,” Trump told Ramin Setoodeh that he thinks Swift is “beautiful and very talented.” He also “guessed that she doesn’t like him” because she’s liberal.
Donald Trump wasted no time responding to Swift’s endorsement of his rival. “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” he posted on Truth Social. He later told Fox News that he was “not a Taylor Swift fan.”
According to Yahoo News, Harris’s aides learned about Swift’s support after her Instagram post. While they appreciated Swift’s support, the mixed poll results have made the Harris campaign reconsider how much her endorsement could help.
Swift told her followers to look at the issues and vote for candidates who align with their beliefs. This way, she ensures that while she is “all in” for Harris, she can keep her conservative fans happy.
On Sunday, Harris-Walz spokesperson Sarafina Chitika responded to Trump’s Truth Social post with a statement full of references to Swift’s song titles. It’s proof that Democrats have a sense of humor as long as the punch lines are easy to understand.
Taylor may be unaffected by the Bad Blood she now has with Trump, but her endorsement didn’t have the bombshell results Democrats had hoped for. It’s becoming clear that we are Never Ever Getting Back Together with Harris in November.
