Democrats believe Taylor Swift’s recent endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris could encourage more young voters to turn out in November, but recent polls suggest the pop star’s support is unlikely to have much of an impact on voting decisions at the ballot box.
Swift, an outspoken critic of former President Trump, endorsed Harris after Tuesday’s presidential debate. In an Instagram post she captioned “childless cat lady,” the pop icon said Harris “fights for the rights and causes that I believe need a warrior to represent them.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom told Fox News Digital from the debate’s spin room that the support was “important.”
“A word of advice to Donald Trump. Don’t disparage that endorsement at your peril,” he said. “She’s a cultural icon. Something big happened in the world in terms of the energy and the environment that she’s associated with. The optimism that she’s associated with. That was a big deal.”
Taylor Swift endorses Kamala Harris for president after debate: “I have made my choice”
Taylor Swift attends the world premiere of the concert film “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” on October 11, 2023 at AMC The Grove 14 in Los Angeles. (Matt Winkelmeyer)
A Democratic strategist told Fox News Digital that Swift’s support could encourage more voters to go to the polls.
TRUMP SAYS TAYLOR SWIFT’S SUPPORT OF HARRIS WAS ‘ONLY A MATTER OF TIME’
“It’s definitely going to have an impact on young voter turnout. And Trump knows that,” said Jessica Tarlov, a Democratic strategist and Fox News contributor. “What’s important about her approach is that she explained her thinking and how past experiences – the images of her generated by the AI - influenced her personally and her decision.”
“This is not the Taylor Swift of 2018 wondering if she should go into politics. This is the Taylor Swift of 2024 who knows who she is and isn’t afraid of backlash for saying what she believes.”
According to a Suffolk University/USA Today poll in May, about 83 percent of respondents said supporting Swift would not affect their decision about who to vote for in November “at all.”
Recent polls suggest Harris is ahead of Trump among young voters, who traditionally make up Swift’s core voting base.
Former President Trump participates in a Fox News town hall meeting with Sean Hannity at the New Holland Arena in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on September 4. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
According to a recent New York Times/Siena poll, Harris is 10 percentage points ahead of Trump in the 18- to 29-year-old age group.
“As first-time voters this November, my peers and I will not be voting for Kamala Harris because Taylor Swift and her cats told us to,” Brilyn Hollyhand, chair of the RNC Youth Advisory Council and a Gen Z voter, told Fox about the endorsement.
“I think when you look at it, it actually makes no difference. This is all just sentiment and not politics,” he said. “I don’t think any amount of pop stars or viral memes she tries will get Gen Z to vote for her if she has no plans to fix the nation she broke.”
Trump told “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday that he was not surprised by the support and was “not a Taylor Swift fan.”
Vice President Kamala Harris during the second presidential debate on Tuesday at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg)
“It was only a matter of time. She couldn’t possibly support Biden. When you look at Biden, you can’t possibly support him,” Trump said.
“But she is a very liberal person. She always seems to support a Democrat. And she will probably pay a price for that (…) in the market.”
While support isn’t necessarily a deciding factor, a Monmouth University poll released in February found that 68% of respondents approved of Swift urging her fans to vote this election cycle.
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Following the endorsement, the Harris-Walz campaign team offered friendship bracelets for purchase on its website, similar to those fans wore during Swift’s “Eras” tour.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
