Donald Trump tried to pretend he didn't care that Taylor Swift once more broke the web on Tuesday night along with her declaration of support for Kamala Harris, just minutes after he and his fellow Democratic presidential candidate left the talk stage in Philadelphia.
Trump, who appeared unsettled for much of Harris' energetic and combative debate performance, called Fox News' “Fox and Friends” Wednesday morning, referring to last weekend's mini-controversy over Swift's friendship with Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who the Republican candidate claimed is “a huge Trump fan.”
“If you want to know the truth, I actually like Ms. Mahomes a lot better,” the previous president said, warning that the “liberal” Swift would “pay a price in the marketplace.” But as much as Trump tried to dismiss Swift's Instagram support for Harris, which earned him greater than 1 million likes inside 13 minutes of its publication, the pop megastar's move infuriated his followers while his celebrity allies despaired that he had lost the talk.
Right-wing commentator Megyn Kelly grumbled Swift, one of the crucial famous icons of American popular culture with an enormous global fan base, “decided it would be fun to take down Donald Trump when she thought he was in a bad way.”
It stays to be seen, nevertheless, whether Kelly and Swift's legion of fans will place an excessive amount of importance on the pop star's support. Once again, a presidential election raises the query of whether an A-list celebrity's endorsement can assist their preferred candidate win.
On the one hand, Swift's support “provides Harris with an unprecedented celebrity supporter and a huge adrenaline boost for her campaign, especially among the younger voters she wants to appeal to.” the New York Times reportedSwift's broad cultural appeal was evident last yr in how she became a driving force within the NFL's growing popularity amongst young women due to her relationship with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Others, nevertheless, argue that celebrity endorsements “have limited influence on racial choice.” Critic, essayist, and self-proclaimed Swiftie BD McClay expressed skepticism. in a recent New York Times editorialthat stars “have a persuasive power that some Americans apparently wish they had.”
Nevertheless, Swift obviously hoped to do some convincing on Tuesday evening. write to her 283 Instagram Follower: “I will be voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 presidential election. I'm voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes that I believe need a fighter to represent them.”
Swift captioned her post, “Childless Cat Lady,” a transparent reference to Trump's running mate JD Vance and his infamous comments demeaning women, cat owners, and childless couples. Swift accompanied her support with a photograph of herself with considered one of her cats, Benjamin Button, her ragdoll.
The news of Swift’s support delighted Walz in real timewho learned about it during an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow after the talk.
“I don't think you know about this, but this was just posted online by a woman you may have heard of. Her name is Taylor Swift,” Maddow told the Minnesota governor.
“I am incredibly grateful to Taylor,” said Walz, deeply touched. “I also say that as a cat owner,” he said humorously.
Swift's post ended weeks of speculation about whether she would support Harris' bid to turn into the primary woman elected president of the United States. That speculation began almost immediately after President Biden announced on July 21 that he was abandoning his re-election bid. The next day, Yale historian Timothy Snyder wrote speculates about X about the opportunity of Swift endorsing the previous San Francisco District Attorney and California Attorney General. The headlines “Will Taylor Swift Endorse Kamala Harris?” began to pile up.
Vanity Fair author Kase Wickman called Swift on the time “the most influential figure of all time, able to use her enormous popularity and power so effectively to influence business and legislation, film production practices and album release strategies.” Wickman also pointed to Forbes' rating of Swift because the fifth strongest woman on this planet, arguing that this support for the previous California senator could be an “incomparable advantage” for her presidential candidacy.
During the primary a part of her profession, which spanned country and pop music, Swift was reluctant to talk out politically. But that modified in 2018, when she endorsed Democratic candidates in her home state of Tennessee. In an interview with Vogue in 2019Swift expressed regret for not endorsing Hillary Clinton in 2016, but feared that her support could backfire and that Trump would attempt to “weaponize the idea of celebrity endorsements.”
Swift didn't miss the chance to endorse candidates in 2020 and “proudly” supported the Biden-Harris ticket. She said having the 2 within the White House would help heal the country after Trump stoked “the fires of white supremacy and racism” during his “entire” presidency from 2017 to 2021.
McClay, Swiftie's essayist, identified that Swift's candidates lost the 2018 Tennessee election, while others noted that the endorsement of one other popular culture icon, Beyoncé, didn’t help Clinton in 2016.
On the opposite hand, Biden and Harris won in 2020, even though it's hard to say whether Swift had anything to do with it. On the opposite hand, McClay and other political observers have said Swift wields political power in encouraging young people to register to vote. Such influence could prove consequential in close races in swing states. Last yr NBC also conducted a survey It reported that Swift continues to cross the deep ideological divide in America and that just about 80% of registered voters have a positive or neutral opinion of her.
“Swifities” were trending on X Wednesday, with the Swifties for Kamala accountwhich isn’t affiliated with the singer, expressed their delight on the icon's support, saying they never doubted it might come “at the right time.” They also predicted that the singer's “words will have a positive impact and encourage more people to join our mission to elect Vice President Harris.”
Harris, for her part, has enjoyed her popular culture connections with Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion and other stars, and her campaign team showed its joy at Swift's endorsement in a notable way Tuesday night, playing the singer's feminist anthem “The Man” as Harris left her debate watch party. People have reported.
“Hard work is good work and we're gonna win, we're gonna win,” Harris told the gang, giving them high fives because the chorus of Swift's song began to play with the lyrics, “I'm so sick of running as fast as I can / I wonder if I'd get there faster if I was a man.”
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