Taylor Swift endorses Kamala Harris in Instagram post after the debate
Taylor Swift is entering her 2024 election era.
The mega pop star has thrown her support behind Vice President Harris, just under two months out from the election.
"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 wrote in a post to her more than 280 million followers on Instagram.
Swift said she was alarmed by Trump posting recent AI pictures on social media, falsely showing her endorsing him, and wanted to combat misinformation with the truth.
The pop star began publicly weighing in on politics ahead of the 2018 midterms, has a record of boosting civic participation by discussing politics online. Her past endorsements and statements, though infrequent, have prompted tens of thousands of people to register to vote.
Impact of endorsement
It’s unclear how big of an impact Swift’s support this year could have on Harris. But with the presidential race expected to be extremely close, an endorsement from Swift could boost enthusiasm from Democrats, especially as Harris’ campaign works to gain back support among young Americans.
Voters under 30 were a powerful voting bloc for President Biden in 2020, siding with him by a 24-point margin. But over the past year, they’ve soured on the outgoing president. Harris’ candidacy has prompted a renewed interest in voting among Gen Z and younger millennial voters, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, but Harris has yet to mirror 2020 numbers.
This target generation has known the country-turned-pop star for most of their lives. Her debut album, from fall 2006, is nearly the same age as an 18-year-old eligible voter today.
Few celebrity endorsements have made noticeable impacts