Taylor Swift endorses Kamala Harris for president
September 11, 2024
US pop star Taylor Swift endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for president on Tuesday night in an Instagram post, in a boost to her campaign.
The much awaited endorsement followed the first presidential debate between the sitting vice president and former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Swift signed her post "Childless Cat Lady" — a reference to rhetoric used by Trump's running mate JD Vance to describe women who do not have kids.
"I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election," she wrote in the post. "I am voting for Kamala Harris because she fights for the rights and causes I belive need a warrior to champion them." Swift has 238 million followers on Instagram.
The post had been liked nearly 2 million times within 25 minutes.
Harris' running mate Tim Walz, who was on air on MSNBC when the endorsement was announced, said he was "incredibly grateful" and appealed her fans to "get things going."
Trump's campaign slams move
Responding to Swift's endorsement of Harris, Donald Trump's campaign said it was evidence that the Democrat party was a 'party of the wealthy elites.'
"This is further evidence that the Democrat Party has unfortunately become a party of the wealthy elites," said spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.
"President Trump is going to continue to fight for hardworking Americans, the forgotten men and women of this country who don't have the luxury of living in private gated communities and need their local law enforcement," she said, insisting the endorsement wouldn't matter.
Swift looks to be 'transparent'
Last month, the former US President shared a false AI-generated image of the pop superstar endorsing him for the 2024 elections.
"It really conjured up my fears around AI, 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," Swift said in her Instagram post.
"The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth."
mk/rm,kb (Reuters, AP)