Pop megastar Taylor Swift racked up more than 9 million “likes” on her Instagram post endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president, joining celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, US basketball star Kaitlyn Clark and Selena Gomez. Shortly after Democrat Harris finished debating her Republican rival Donald Trump on Tuesday night, Swift, 34, told her 283 million followers that Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, would get their vote in the November 5 election.
Her post encouraged first-time voters to register for the election, and a U.S. General Services Administration spokesperson said Wednesday that the custom URL shared by Taylor Swift drove 337,826 visitors to vote.gov.
“I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for rights and issues that I believe need a warrior,” Swift posted.
He called Harris a “steady, talented leader” who can lead the country with peace instead of chaos.
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Swift posed with her cat in her post, which she signed as “childless cat lady,” a dig at Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance, who called some Democrats a “bunch of childless cat ladies” in a 2021 interview. He has since said it was only a sarcastic remark.
Supermodel Karlie Kloss, who is married to the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, liked Swift’s post.
“Parks and Recreation” and “The White Lotus” actress Aubrey Plaza echoed Swift’s support in her own Instagram post Wednesday, where she held a cat with the caption “Harris Walz” and an American flag emoji.
Trump supporter Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and owner of social media platform X, wrote on his platform, “Ok Taylor… you won… I will give you a baby and protect your cats with my life.”
His message was labelled “disgusting”, “misogynistic” and “creepy”.
“I’ve done my research and I’ve made my choice,” Swift wrote to her followers on Instagram. “You have to do your research and make your choice. I also want to say, especially to first-time voters: remember you have to be registered to vote!”
Swift wrote that she was impressed by Minnesota Governor Walz, and described him as someone “who has stood up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and women’s right to their own bodies for decades.”
Walz, who was on MSNBC when the ad was announced, said he was “extremely grateful” and urged the singer’s large fan base of “Swifties” to “get to work.”
Shortly after Swift’s endorsement, the Harris-Walz campaign announced pre-orders for their latest campaign apparel: friendship bracelets inspired by Swift fans.
Trump rejects endorsement
Donald Trump dismissed Swift’s endorsement of Harris on Wednesday, saying he’s “not a fan of Taylor.”
“It was just a question of timing,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News. “She’s a very liberal person. She always seems to support the Democrats. And she’s probably going to pay a price for that in the market.”
In August, Trump posted a fake photo of Swift on social media, urging people to vote for him in the November election.
Swift referenced this in her post on Tuesday, saying that Trump “really highlighted my fears about AI and the dangers of spreading misinformation.”
She added: “This led me to the conclusion that as a voter I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election.”
Opinion polls show that the contest between the two candidates is neck and neck.
Harris, who supports abortion rights, has criticized Trump for appointing three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that enshrined a constitutional right to abortion in 2022.
Trump has defended the court’s ruling on abortion but has said a federal abortion ban is unnecessary and that the issue should be resolved at the state level.
Swift endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020. Several Hollywood actors, producers and filmmakers have said they see Harris, a former U.S. senator from California, as their hometown candidate.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
