Will Taylor Swift’s Kamala Harris Endorsement Change Minds?

Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris could have a significant effect on the 2024 election, according to a number of prominent political scientists and pop culture experts.
One academic who has written extensively about Swift’s celebrity status told Newsweek the globe-striding artist is “one of the most powerful people in the world” and forecast her endorsement would have a “big impact” on the upcoming election. An American politics expert said Harris’ team would be “hugely buoyed” by Swift’s endorsement, though another cautioned that much of the artist’s fan base was already likely to vote for the Democratic candidate.
Following Tuesday’s presidential debate between Harris and Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, Swift announced her endorsement with an Instagram post, writing: “I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris 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.”
She signed the message with “Childless Cat Lady” and included a photograph of herself holding a cat, in an apparent reference to comments that Ohio Senator JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, made in 2021, when he described leading Democrats as “a bunch of childless cat ladies.”
Speaking to Newsweek, Georgia Carroll, a researcher in Australia who has done a case study on Swift’s appeal, said a Harris endorsement had been widely anticipated.
“Most of Taylor’s fans expected she would endorse Kamala at some point before the election, with the question ultimately not being if, but when. She endorsed Biden in October 2020, so fans were broadly expecting her to replicate that this year,” she said.
Carroll added: “While it was expected, it will still have a big impact as she is currently one of the most powerful people in the world (and far more powerful than she was in 2020). Her childless cat lady sign-off will go down in election lore.”
Mark Shanahan, an American politics expert at the University of Surrey, told Newsweek that Swift would boost Harris’ appeal among the demographics she needed to win in November.
“Her camp will be hugely buoyed by the decision of the biggest personal brand in global entertainment to endorse the Democrat ticket straight after the candidates left the stage,” he said. “Harris needs an alliance of women, the young and minorities to win this election. Swifties spread across all those categories.”
Citing the General Services Administration, which supports government communications, CNN reported that as of 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday, 337,826 people had clicked on a voter registration link Swift posted on Instagram.
An analysis by the network found that there were two big spikes in Google searches for “voter registration” in the United States on Tuesday evening. The first took place around 9:44 p.m. ET when the candidates clashed on the debate stage over the January 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot. The second occurred around 11 p.m., following Swift’s endorsement of Harris.
Newsweek contacted representatives of Taylor Swift and the Harris and Trump campaigns for comment via email outside regular office hours.
Thomas Gift, a political scientist who heads the Centre of U.S. Politics at University College London, said Swift has an unusual degree of political influence for a celebrity.
He told Newsweek: “Celebrity endorsements generally don’t matter in politics. But Taylor Swift is no ordinary celebrity. She has the power to move national economies with her tours, so it’s hard to say that her endorsement of Harris won’t have an impact.
“At the same time, Swift has always worn her feelings for Trump on her sleeve, so few fans will be surprised by her choice. Trump will try to ‘shake it off,’ but Swift’s influence, particularly among young voters, could have an impact on the margins.”
Dafydd Townley, who teaches American politics at the University of Portsmouth, told Newsweek that most Swift fans would likely have backed Harris regardless of what the megastar said.
“While Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris—and her backhanded response to JD Vance’s denigration of female cat owners—has caught the headlines, it is unlikely to cause a considerable surge in Harris’ electability,” he said. “The vast majority of Swifties registered to vote, if not all of them, would have likely voted for Harris before the endorsement.”
Townley added that Swift’s comments could help boost voter registration and turnout, in a win for Harris. “What is significant is Swift’s encouragement to her followers to register to vote and turn out on Election Day. In an age of political apathy among youth voters around the world, Swift’s call is important to ensuring the involvement of America’s youth in their nation’s democratic principles,” he said.
A survey of 1,500 eligible voters, conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for Newsweek on May 1, found that 22 percent of 2020 Joe Biden voters would be more likely to vote for a GOP candidate if they were endorsed by Swift. Among 2020 Trump voters, 13 percent said they would be more willing to vote for a Democrat if they had Swift’s public backing.
A separate Newsweek/Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll of 1,750 registered voters conducted on July 29, found that 34 percent of Gen Z voters were either “more likely” or “significantly more likely” to vote for a Swift-endorsed candidate. However, among the same age group, 26 percent said they were “less likely” or “significantly less likely” to vote for a candidate backed by Swift. Members of Gen Z were born between 1997 and 2012, giving them a maximum age of 27.
Shortly after Swift endorsed Harris, the Democrat’s presidential campaign released friendship bracelet merchandise of a type that became associated with the singer-songwriter during her ongoing Eras tour, which has already become the highest-grossing music tour in history.
During an appearance on Fox News’ The Story, Vance hit back at Swift following her endorsement of Harris. The Republican vice presidential hopeful said: “We admire Taylor Swift’s music, but I don’t think most Americans—whether they like her music or are fans of hers or not—are going to be influenced by a billionaire celebrity who I think is fundamentally disconnected from the interests and the problems of most Americans.
“Look, when grocery prices go up by 20 percent, it hurts most Americans. It doesn’t hurt Taylor Swift. When housing prices become unaffordable, it doesn’t affect Taylor Swift or any other billionaire. It does affect middle-class Americans all over our country.”
In her endorsement, Swift also encouraged readers to conduct their own research before casting their votes. She said: “I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make.”
Melissa Jacquart, an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati who teaches “an introduction to classic and contemporary philosophical thought through the art and life of Taylor Swift,” highlighted this point when speaking to Newsweek.
Jacquart said: “Elections are a time for us to think about what the reasons are for our own views and own decisions. This is what Taylor is encouraging in her Instagram post: She is encouraging us to do our research and think through and articulate our own reasons.
“Her fan base is predominantly young women. To think this is going to be about Taylor’s influence or create controversy goes against Taylor’s own message and underestimates young women’s ability to think through this decision for themselves.”