Swift surge for Harris? Political world weighs impact of star’s endorsement

Taylor Swift’s surprise postdebate endorsement of Vice President Harris is sending shockwaves throughout the political world, and the reverberations might prove hard for former President Trump to shake off.

“Taylor Swift, she is the biggest celebrity in the world who a heck of a lot of people look up to. It matters. It’ll matter in close states,” David Thomas, a Democratic strategist and former aide to then-Vice President Al Gore, said of Swift’s Tuesday night Instagram post backing Harris’s White House bid.

In a message to her more than 280 million Instagram followers posted shortly after Harris and Trump came face-to-face at the debate hosted by ABC News, Swift told her fans that she is supporting the vice president because “she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.”

“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,” the 34-year-old “All Too Well” singer wrote.

While the endorsement itself might not have come as a total shock — Swift backed President Biden’s 2020 White House bid and has been critical of Trump in the past — experts say its impact could be powerful due to the songwriting sensation’s virtually unmatched, scorching-hot star wattage. 

Political endorsements from most famous names don’t tend to sway voters at the ballot box, even those who are on the fence. But Swift “is different” than your typical celebrity, said Cayce Myers, a professor of public relations and director of graduate studies at Virginia Tech’s school of communication.

“Swift is a cultural icon who has a lot of popularity with a young demographic. The power of her is that the demographic, and the social media presence and her use of social media really makes this different,” Myers said.

The Grammy Award winner’s endorsement could be more influential than even other megastars because of her robust Generation Z reach.

“Her fan base probably aren’t the type of people that are going to watch this debate all the way through. They don’t get their views from legacy media. They get a lot of their information on social; they get it on Instagram, they get it on TikTok,” Myers said. “So if she’s speaking about political issues in that forum, they are going to get their news potentially from her.”

GOP strategist Doug Heye agreed Swift’s endorsement will open up doors to young voters and could potentially give a starry boost to Harris’s fundraising efforts, saying, “It allows another way for Democrats to reach that audience.”

“They’re already selling the friendship bracelets, and you could see [in the future] text messages coming from Taylor and so forth,” Heye said. 

On Wednesday, Harris’s campaign sent an email blast touting the coveted endorsement.

“Will you join Taylor Swift in supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign?” the Harris for President fundraising pitch said. 

Appealing to her fans to do their research because the “choice is yours to make,” Swift urged them to register to vote and to cast their ballots early.

“She’s encouraging people to register and get out to vote. The election is going to be close; if there are a handful of people who were Taylor Swift fans who decided to register to vote because she said that, that could make a difference in places like Pennsylvania or Georgia or Michigan,” said Thomas, a partner at Mehlman Consulting. 

By Wednesday morning, more than 300,000 visitors headed to the U.S. government’s voting page after Swift linked to it in her Instagram post, according to NPR.

Last year, Vote.org reportedly registered more than 35,000 people to vote following a call to action by Swift to mark National Voter Registration Day.

But Heye, a self-described “Swift appreciator” who attended one of the star’s concerts in Paris, warned that Democrats need to calm down before overestimating her impact.

“The debate, followed immediately by Taylor — my phone blew up from Democrats thinking the race is over,” the former Republican National Committee spokesman said.

“This was a close race going into the debate. It remains a close race,” Heye added. 

Trump knocked Swift for backing his political opponent in a Wednesday “Fox & Friends” interview, suggesting the move could alienate some of her massive fanbase, saying “She seems to always endorse a Democrat, and she’ll probably pay a price for it in the marketplace.”

The day after the debate, and less than 24 hours after she gave Harris’s campaign her blessing, Swift’s post had received more than 9 million likes on Instagram.

Alex Gangitano contributed.