Pop star Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris immediately after the presidential debate on Tuesday (Sep 10). Swift took to her Instagram account and conveyed to her vast following on social media that she would be voting for Harris come the November 6 election.
The validation from Swift is expected to give a major fillip to Harris’s campaign against rival Donald Trump.
“Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight,” Ms. Swift wrote on Instagram to her 283 million followers.
“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.”
Swift revealed that after an artificial intelligence of her ‘falsely endorsing’ Trump’s presidential run was posted on social media, she decided to side with Harris.
“It really conjured up my fears around Al, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.”
Swift urged her fans to do their research and register to vote if they had not already.
“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.”
Swift also took a potshot at Republican vice president candidate JD Vance by signing off the endorsement as ‘Childless Cat Lady”, in reference to the Ohio senator’s controversial remark.
Vance in a 2021 interview with former Fox News host, Tucker Carlson, had said that the US was being run “by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too”.
After he was announced as Donald Trump’s running mate, the video surfaced, leading to intense backlash with Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston as well as Oprah Winfrey calling out Vance.
Harris-Trump debate
The presidential debate between Harris and Trump, perhaps the first and only of this election cycle saw both leaders exchange characteristic blows, verbal jabs and few zingers.
While Harris managed to hold her own in her first presidential debate, Trump looked more confident on economy as well as foreign policy. However, he was fact-checked thrice by ABC News moderators during the debate for perpetuating half-baked stories.
(With inputs from agencies)