American singer Taylor Swift has said that she will vote for Democrat Kamala Harris in the US presidential election in November. The pop star gave her endorsement shortly after the first debate between Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump on Tuesday.
The singer took to Instagram, saying that she watched the broadcast and that she has also done research on both candidates.
”I think [Harris] 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 34-year-old wrote in a post to her more than 280 million followers on the platform.
The singer explained her choice by saying that Harris and her running mate Tim Walz would fight for the causes that need “a warrior to champion them,” such as the LGBTQ+ rights and in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Swift posted a picture of herself holding her cat and signed her message as “Childless Cat Lady.” The remark appears to be a reference to comments made three years ago by Donald Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance. In a 2021 interview, the former US Marine controversially claimed that the Democratic Party was run “by a bunch of childless cat ladies.”
During the 2020 election campaign, Swift supported Joe Biden. She criticized Donald Trump at the time for “stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism” during his term as president.
Swift was ranked the biggest-selling recording artist in the world last year and the first artist to become a billionaire primarily from her songwriting and performing. The singer boasts a massive following among young people and has become a cultural phenomenon.
The Trump campaign office dismissed Swift’s endorsement, describing it as “further evidence” that the Democrat Party has become “a party of the wealthy elites.”
“There’s many Swifties for Trump out there in America,” said spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.
The number of people following Taylor Swift on social media reportedly fell following her post.
The singer is known for her autobiographical songwriting, a fact picked up on by the Republican National Committee’s youth advisory council co-chair, C.J. Pearson.
Pearson took to X on Wednesday to point out that Swift “has built an entire career on her inability to choose the right man.”
“Now, she wants us to trust her to choose our next President. Yeah, I’ll pass,” he said.