Taylor Swift endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential candidacy on the night of Sept. 10, just after Harris debated former President Donald Trump.
“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election,” Swift wrote to her 283 million followers in an Instagram post. “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.”
The post received over 11 million likes. The number of newly registered voters in the state almost doubled in the week following Swift’s endorsement of Harris, according to state election data from the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Taylor Swift is not the only celebrity whose endorsement may impact the election. British Pop Star Charli XCX tweeted positively about Harris on X by calling her brat, a pop culture term — and title of XCX’s recent album — associated with confidence and honesty.
The Guardian wrote, “[The tweet may be] Kamala’s most culturally powerful endorsement.”
A celebrity endorsement’s influence on public opinion can depend on the demographic of their fan base. “It was crucial for Taylor Swift to speak out, because a lot of her fans are young white women who may not know the full effects of [a] Trump [administration],” said Sophie Smith ‘25.
Social media continues to serve as a vessel for celebrities to reach large audiences. “Because [celebrities] have such a big platform and can make such a big difference, they should — to the best of their abilities — stick up for what they believe in,” Catie Crehan ‘25 said.
But some question whether or not celebrities should use their platforms to publicly express their political opinions. “I don’t necessarily believe that it is the best for all celebrities to take sides … because I think they could fuel polarization,” History Teacher Ruthann Betkey said. “There’s [a] risk of demonizing either side or straying away from common ground and real dialogue about issues.”
Swift first vocalized her political opinions in 2018, and discussed her previous political silence during the 2016 Presidential election in an interview with The Guardian. “I was just trying to protect my mental health — not read the news very much, go cast my vote, tell people to vote,” Swift said. “I just knew what I could handle and I knew what I couldn’t.”
However, Swift’s political silence only sparked further criticism. A 2016 Splinter article wrote, “To stay silent in this election, in which a candidate has unabashedly insulted women and people of color, is to ignore the mission [Swift] has claimed to be promoting and makes money off of.”
“I understand peoples’ frustration, especially when you have one side of the ballot that is actively dehumanizing people,” Betkey said. “If you can’t denounce vitriolic hatred and dehumanization, I personally have an issue with that. Does that mean that you also have [to] publicly endorse a side? What if you don’t like either side?”
