As soon as Vice-President Kamala Harris announced she was running for president, the celebrity endorsements started rolling in. She’s got George Clooney giving a statement to CNN and Kerry Washington doing the “Apple” dance — who else could she need? The answer is Taylor Swift. Harris could really use Taylor Swift’s endorsement.
Back in January, the New York Times reported that Swift was the Biden campaign’s “biggest and most influential endorsement target.” The campaign even considered (partly in jest) sending the president to the Eras Tour. (In retrospect, the decibel level in one of those stadiums might have been enough to make the president keel over.) Despite the fact that it’s now Harris running, you have to imagine that Swift remains the campaign’s white whale.
Personally, I think she will eventually get around to endorsing Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz. In 2018, Swift made her first-ever real endorsement. It was for Phil Bredesen and Jim Cooper, two Tennessee Democrats running for Senate and the House, respectively. She shared a long Instagram caption about her decision, writing, “In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country.”
In 2020, Swift endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket with a tray of cookies and a statement given to V magazine. “I will proudly vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in this year’s presidential election. Under their leadership, I believe America has a chance to start the healing process it so desperately needs,” she told the magazine.
I spoke to @vmagazine about why I’ll be voting for Joe Biden for president. So apt that it’s come out on the night of the VP debate. Gonna be watching and supporting @KamalaHarris by yelling at the tv a lot. And I also have custom cookies ????????????
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) October 7, 2020
???? @inezandvinoodh pic.twitter.com/DByvIgKocr
Most recently, Swift shared a kind of empty endorsement of the concept of electoral politics. She encouraged her fans to hit the polls on Super Tuesday, and encouraged them “to vote the people who most represent YOU into power.” Whatever that means …
This month, some fans thought that Swift had hidden her endorsement for Harris in the seventh slide of an Instagram carousel. In a post commemorating her time in Warsaw, Swift included a photo that followers believed showed the silhouette of the vice-president walking behind Swift.
It really feels like it should be a bigger deal that Taylor Swift left a shadow of Kamala on her Instagram post but I don’t really see anyone talking about it. #YesWeKam pic.twitter.com/9YAS4t4ibQ
— Nick Knudsen ???????? (@NickKnudsenUS) August 7, 2024
To be clear, this is not what happened. That figure is one of her backup dancers — they wear pantsuits during “The Man.” Trust me, when Swift decides she wants to endorse the Harris-Walz ticket, it will not be an Easter egg. She does not endorse quietly.
Both times Swift has endorsed candidates in the past, it’s been on October 7, so don’t expect to see her announcing Reputation (Taylor’s Version) at the Democratic National Convention this month. That being said, the Eras Tour returns Stateside in October, so here’s a free idea: At the first Miami show (October 18, about a week after Swift has probably endorsed Harris), Swift announces during the acoustic set that she has a very special guest. “Please welcome to the stage Vice-President Kamala Harris!” The crowd goes insane, Harris says a few words about how much is at stake during this election, and then Swift asks, “Do you have any requests?” Harris says she loves “Picture to Burn” and walks offstage as Swift launches into the song.
This post has been updated.
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