WASHINGTON: Pop sensation Taylor Swift drew more than 9 million “likes” to her Instagram post backing Vice President Kamala Harris for president from celebrities, including Jennifer Aniston, basketball star Caitlin Clark, and Selena Gomez.
Following Harris’s debate with her Republican opponent Donald Trump on Tuesday night, Swift, with her 283 million followers, announced her support for Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, for the November 5 election.
Swift’s post also encouraged first-time voters to register, leading to a significant increase in traffic to vote.gov, with 337,826 visits reported from a custom URL shared by Swift. She stated, “I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them,” and praised Harris as a “steady-handed, gifted leader” capable of guiding the country with calm rather than chaos.
The post featured Swift with her cat and was signed “Childless Cat Lady,” a nod to Trump’s running mate JD Vance, who had previously made a sarcastic remark about “childless cat ladies.”
Supermodel Karlie Kloss, married to Jared Kushner’s brother, showed support by liking Swift’s post. Actor Aubrey Plaza also echoed Swift’s endorsement on Instagram, holding a cat and captioning it “HARRIS WALZ” with an American flag emoji.
Elon Musk, a Trump supporter and CEO of Tesla, responded on his platform X, saying, “Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life,” a comment that was widely criticized as “disgusting,” “misogynistic,” and “creepy.”
Swift concluded her Instagram message by encouraging her followers to research and make their own choices, especially first-time voters, reminding them to register in order to vote. Following the endorsement, the Harris-Walz campaign launched pre-orders for new campaign merchandise inspired by Swift’s fan base: friendship bracelets.
