Could Taylor Swift win Kamala Harris the election?

The moment everyone has been waiting for in US politics finally arrived last night.

No, we’re not talking about the hotly-anticipated debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, but about the ultimate endorsement by a certain pop star.

For months, Taylor Swift has kept quiet about her voting intentions for the November 5 presidential election, instead encouraging fans to go out and "vote the people who most represent YOU into power."

But finally, on Tuesday night, shortly after the Trump-Harris head-to-head ended, Swift announced who she’d be backing. And it was met with a sigh of relief.

In a lengthy and detailed Instagram post, she wrote: “I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election.

“I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.”

She continued: “I think she 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.”

So why has the pop icon chosen now to speak out? And what sway could it have on the outcome of what has been touted as the most consequential election in history?

Harris was broadly seen as the winner of the hotly anticipated presidential debate(Getty Images)

Why is Swift backing Harris?

The ‘Bad Blood’ singer’s statement reads as an ode to the importance of careful research and facts. The underlying insinuation is that if you respect the truth, you shouldn’t vote for Trump.

She wrote: “Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most.

“As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country.”

She went on to admit that her endorsement of Harris was partially prompted by Trump’s decision to post AI-generated pictures suggesting she was backing him. One showed Swift dressed as Uncle Sam, accompanied by the text: “Taylor wants YOU to VOTE for DONALD TRUMP.”

Trump’s posts, she said, “conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading disinformation.” In so doing, it “brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter.”

The 34-year-old stressed: “The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.”

Still, Swift was clear that her choice was not simply a vote against Trump, but an enthusiastic vote for Harris and her running mate.

After extolling the virtues of the “warrior” VP, she added: “I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.”

At the same time, she made a thinly veiled jibe at Trump’s own choice of sidekick, JD Vance.

Alongside the statement, she shared a photo of herself cuddling her cat Benjamin Button, and she signed off the message “Childless Cat Lady.”

The remark is a reference to three-year-old comments made by Vance about women without children not having an equal stake in the country’s future.

Why did she choose debate night to release her statement?

The debate was widely viewed as a pivotal moment in the race, with both candidates looking to sway undecided voters during the first, and possibly only, debate of the campaign.

By announcing her endorsement at such a decisive moment, Swift was giving her statement the greatest possible impact.

Yet, a senior official for the Harris campaign made clear that they had no hand in the coordination of the endorsement. Indeed, it clearly came as a welcome surprise.

Walz appeared to learn about the statement in the middle of a live interview on MSNBC. When host Rachel Maddow read the text, he broke into a smile and patted his chest.

“That was eloquent. And it was clear,” he gushed. “And that’s the kind of courage we need in America to stand up.”

So could Swift’s announcement sway the election?

"I've never seen a potential endorsement be so anticipated as this one," David Jackson, a Bowling Green State University professor who has studied the effect of celebrity endorsements, told The Guardianearlierthis year.

Indeed, one need only look towards the slew of smashed records achieved by her Eras tour to appreciate just how massive, and extensive, her influence is – reaching well beyond the music industry.

A recent LendingTree survey found that 20 per cent of millennials and 24 per cent of Gen Z said Swift made them care about American football after watching her support her boyfriend Travis Kelce at Kansas City Chiefs games.

And a survey conducted before the Eras tour even began found that 53 per cent of US adults identified as Swifties, with 16 per cent calling themselves "avid fans," The Weekreports.

The survey concluded that her appeal encompassed the entire political spectrum although, admittedly, 55 per cent of fans identified as Democrats, while 23 per cent were Republicans and 23 per cent independents.

Furthermore, a February poll conducted by market research firm Savanta found that one in six adults were "more likely to vote" if Swift or Kelce encouraged them to do so, according to The Hill.

"If this is a close election — anything becomes possible," Dr Brandon Valeriano, a political scientist at Seton Hall University's School of Diplomacy, told Dazed.

Valerio also suggested that Swift may be able to influence undecided voters, like those "in red districts with heavy MAGA families who are consistently told what to do but don't have opinions.”

She can "activate these people, maybe give them a voice," he posited.

Nevertheless, Swift’s endorsement doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. In 2020, she supported President Joe Biden and cheered for Harris in her debate against the then-Vice President Mike Pence.

She also was openly critical of Trump, saying he had stoked “the fires of white supremacy and racism.”

How has the Trump campaign reacted to the snub?

Naturally, the Trump campaign has dismissed Swift’s endorsement.

“This is further evidence that the Democrat Party has unfortunately become a party of the wealthy elites,” spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in response.

“There’s many Swifties for Trump out there in America,” she said, herself included.

But it comes months after Trump warned the pop star that a Biden endorsement would be "disloyal to the man who made her so much money" – this being a reference to his signing of the Music Modernization Act in 2018.

Also earlier in the year, some rightwingers unleashed conspiracy theories claiming Swift was a Democratic pawn, inlcuding the suggestion that the Super Bowl was fixed in favour of the Kansas City Chiefs to give the singer a platform to endorse Biden.

Interestingly, the team won, but no such endorsement was made. But now, she's ready to share her thoughts with the world.

Ending her September 10 Instagram statement, Swift wrote: “I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make.”

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