On Sunday afternoon, Emerald Medrano was on the phone with his sister discussing what he calls “some personal drama” when even more dramatic news broke: President Joe Biden announced that he would not seek reelection and endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris instead. It was an earth-shattering and incredibly exciting moment for Medrano, a college student in Texas. Here he’d been presented with an opportunity to follow through on what his favorite artist, Taylor Swift, sang in “Only The Young”: They aren’t gonna change this, we gotta do it ourselves.
“I feel like us U.S swifties should mass organize and help campaign for Kamala Harris and spread how horrendous project 2025 would be to help get people’s butts down to the polls in November ????,” he tweeted, “like if we don’t want democracy to end we really need to move and push blue votes.”
Medrano, 22 (IYKYK), knows just how powerful Swift’s fans are as he’s been one pretty much all his life. “A lot of people say that, but I really, truly mean it,” he tells me. “I was in a car seat screaming the lyrics to ‘Picture to Burn.’” When Swift released Lover in 2019, he says, “that was around the time I started accepting myself as queer.” His entry into the online fandom quickly followed: “Connecting with other people who love Taylor really grew my love for her and her music.” Within three hours of Medrano’s X post going viral, Swifties for Kamala (@swifties4kamala on all platforms and originally named Swifties for Harris) was born. A group chat that he started moved to a Discord channel, more than 300 volunteers joined up, and the Swifties got to work. They drafted a mission statement saying they are backing Harris because she has the “experience, integrity, wit, and stamina to beat Donald Trump” and to take action on a slew of issues including reproductive freedom, LGBTQIA+ rights, climate change, gun safety, and a ceasefire in Gaza. The group’s Linktree directs people to a voter-registration website and an ActBlue page where they can donate to Harris.
As of this writing, Swifties for Kamala has gained more than 128,000 followers across social-media platforms. Its Discord has stopped accepting new members while the group builds out its infrastructure. Committees are already getting started on events planning around the last leg of the Eras Tour in the U.S.; research on Project 2025 to raise awareness; voter registration, particularly in swing states; and, of course, custom friendship bracelets. I spoke with Medrano about why he’s supporting the vice-president, what Swifties for Kamala hopes to achieve, and why, although a Swift endorsement would be great, the group is not waiting around for one before getting to work.
Why create Swifties for Kamala? Why does Kamala Harris feel like the type of candidate that you could get behind?
I’m a Latinx trans man. I’ve always had to be interested in politics because my identity is always up for debate. I voted for the first time in 2020, but I haven’t ever done any political organizing, so this is a new area for me and I’m so excited to learn and adapt to it. On Sunday, I was just like, Swifties can do something. I know we can. Harris is a very intelligent and powerful woman; she’s a trailblazer. The way she has opened doors and also takes care of the people who come after her through that door reminds me in a lot of ways of Taylor and the way she cares about people in the music industry. I really love that little connection between them. Harris also makes me feel that she cares about me — my rights and my identity. This is someone I wanna vote for.
What has the behind-the-scenes looked like over the past several days?
A lot of late nights. My friend Irene and I, everyone, we’ve just been nonstop. We started in a group chat; we moved to Discord. We’ve gained hundreds of members there. Irene, bless her soul, made this whole structure to get us organized as leaders and committees. We even have a committee for friendship bracelets. Our organization process has moved fast and that has been a lot of pressure, but at the same time, it’s fueled by our excitement and our passion to do this in the name of Swifties.
What’s your ultimate goal with the group?
When we started, the goal I was aiming for was this election. That has definitely evolved over the past few days. We’ve been in contact with the Harris campaign and they’ve been helping us form initiatives and move forward with the group beyond the election. We are thinking about how we can continue this passion for future organizing around issues we care about.
We do have some initiatives in the works currently: educating people, helping registering them to vote. There have been talks with the Harris campaign about possible events and other things coming up that I’m not sure I could say a lot about, but it’s really cool and exciting. And there will be so many friendship bracelets!
What’s the response been like to Swifties for Kamala so far?
Thrilling to see. Previous to Sunday, as a community we all had this underlying anxiety. But now we have this thing where we can funnel it and push to create change. Swifties absolutely jumped onto this effort, and it’s so cool to see all these different people coming together and being like, “We can move forward with our fears and turn them into something really beautiful.”
Are we talking about people from a cross-section of generations, or mostly young people?
The first Swifties to reach out were actually in their 50s! Our youngest member I believe is 15. We have this wide range of ages from the whole entire world. International Swifties — from Australia, from everywhere — are like, “I can’t vote, but what can I do to help?” We got people in each state. It’s so fun and we also just care about each other so much.
You heard from the Harris campaign, but have you heard from Taylor’s team at all? Could you even tell me if you had?
We have not.
Do you think she would make an endorsement like she has in the past? Does it matter if she does or doesn’t?
She endorsed President Biden before, so I believe that she will make an endorsement. But at the same time, we are not waiting. Our movement is about the power that we have as a community and what we as Swifties wanna see in the White House — the issues we care about, what we want to see represented. I do believe that endorsement from Taylor has the potential to activate even more of a fanbase. In 2020, when she asked us to vote, thousands and thousands of people registered. But I do not think we need an endorsement to come together as a fandom and fight for what we believe in. Taylor always told us, “Be fearless. Speak now. Go after what you want and you can make it happen.” Like she has done herself in the music industry! We’re following her example in this way and taking the initiative ourselves.
A lot of Swifties tend to be progressive, but not everyone. What would you say to fans who do not want to vote for Harris or are on the fence?
This is the most important election of our time. So many of our rights are on the line. I’m lucky to be surrounded by Swifties who share the same values as me, but I know that for some it might be hard to make those decisions. I hope that with Swifties for Kamala, we can educate these Swifties in the middle, we can speak to them in the ways that will inspire them to use their vote. I would encourage them to look up the issues and make an informed decision for what is right for them. I know a lot of people are like, “My vote doesn’t matter,” but your voice always matters. I was just one person who sent out a tweet, and now we have all of this.
Fandoms, especially those that have a lot of young women and queer people involved in them, tend to be dismissed as unserious. People may not necessarily see you all as a political force. What would you say to that?
Our superpower is our ability to make something fun into something serious. We can make friendship bracelets and tell you to vote at the same time! I love that about our community. The fact that people underestimate us just makes us even more powerful when we actually achieve things. It’s made me super-happy to see we’ve put the intellect and the fierceness we have within us to good use.
Last question: What Taylor song describes the vice-president?
I’m gonna have to be biased and say “Karma,” because our slogan is “Kamala’s a relaxed thought.” I would be so relaxed if she were the president.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity. This story has been updated to reflect that the group has rebranded to “Swifties for Kamala.”
