The last time Taylor Swift encouraged her fans to vote via Instagram, the result was 35,000 new voter registrations. This year, as the singer endorses Kamala Harris, her influence is likely to be felt again—which right-wing commentators like Megyn Kelly are not happy about.
“You can kiss your sales to the Republican audience goodbye, Taylor,” Kelly screamed on her podcast Wednesday. Notably, Swift also endorsed Joe Biden over Donald Trump in the 2020 election as well, and her sales didn’t suffer for it. Kelly continued confidently, however, “Hope you enjoyed [the sales] while you had them. This pair—Taylor and her boyfriend Travis Kelce—are the epitome of elite snobs.”
Swift took to Instagram immediately following the presidential debate Tuesday night, telling her fans that she would be voting for Harris because “she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.” The pop star also slammed Trump for using AI-generated photos of the star that appeared to show her endorsing him, which “brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter,” she wrote.
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"TOPSHOT - This illustration photo taken in Washington, DC on September 10, 2024 shows US singer Taylor Swift's Instagram post endorsing US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Pop superstar Taylor Swift on September 10, 2024 endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris in the US presidential contest against Donald Trump, saying she was a \"warrior.\" \"I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election,\" she posted on her Instagram account. (Photo by PEDRO UGARTE / AFP) (Photo by PEDRO UGARTE/AFP via Getty Images)"
PEDRO UGARTETrump reacted by telling Fox News that he prefers Swift's friend and “big Trump fan” Brittany Mahomes to the singer, and added that he was “never a Taylor Swift fan,” before declaring Swift will “pay a price in the marketplace” for endorsing Harris over him.
Swift’s post featured a photo of herself with her cat and she signed her caption remarks as “Childless Cat Lady,” a direct rebuttal to Trump’s VP JD Vance who made the ill-fated remark in 2021.
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk called Swift’s statement “unsurprising,” as he joined the chorus of disappointed conservatives, tweeting, “If Taylor really wants to protect her cats from Haitian migrants, she should reconsider!” with the hashtag “#ProtectTaylorsCats.” Fox host Mark Levin took his comments even further, calling Swift an “imbecile” in his tweet.
Ben Shapiro, despite his excitement over Kid Rock’s performance for Trump at the Republican National Convention, tweeted, “If you vote for a particular candidate because your favorite singer is doing so, please don't vote. You are too stupid to vote.”
Tim Walz, who learned of Swift’s endorsement on air during an interview with Rachel Maddow, said in response, “I am incredibly grateful, first of all, to Taylor Swift. Look, Swifties, you heard it. That was eloquent and it was clear. And that’s the type of courage we need in America, to stand up.”
And Harris made her gratitude known as well as she exited the stage to Swift’s song “The Man,” following her post-debate rally on Tuesday night. In that track, from 2019’s Lover, Swift sings, “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can / Wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man.”
