What do Jenifer Lawrence, Billie Eilish and George Clooney all have in common? They all endorsed current Vice President Kamala Harris, for president in this year’s election season. Though multiple celebrities have taken to various social media platforms and rallies to endorse their preferred candidate this year, this is seemingly unheard of in the past. It used to be taboo to tell others who you were voting for, let alone blasting it on the internet for all to hear in a persuasive attempt. The most notable celebrity who took to Instagram to announce their support for the Democratic candidate is Taylor Swift. Swift, whose current international tour, the Eras Tour, has grossed about $1.04 billion from 60 shows in 2023 alone (Forbes).
Immediately after Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump debated on live television Swift took to her Instagram to squash the rumors once and for all on who she was voting for. These rumors and misconceptions stemmed from the former president himself posting AI-generated photos of Taylor Swift dressed as Uncle Sam, saying “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump,” he captioned these posts with, “I accept!” (The Guardian). Swift acknowledged the AI fake images in her endorsement post saying, “It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation”. Next, Swift proceeded to the conclusion that she had to be transparent about who her vote would be cast for in the upcoming presidential election.
This comes after popular Instagram activist, Matt Bernstein called out Taylor Swift for hanging with celebrity, Brittany Mahomes, who publicly endorsed Trump for president, in a post with over 500,000 likes. Why would Bernstein specifically call out Swift when there are a multitude of celebrities who haven’t endorsed Harris for president? Bernstein was holding Swift accountable because, in 2018, Swift broke her silence in politics to endorse a politician in her local Tennessee district. In Swift’s documentary that aired in 2020, “Miss Americana,” fans saw the behind-the-scenes of her decision. In the documentary we see Swift begin to break into tears, trying to advocate for the importance of her making a statement. Her media team, including her father, were not very excited about it, comparing her to Bob Hope and Bing Cosby, saying that they never got involved in politics. Swift responded with, “These aren’t your dad’s celebrities, and these aren’t your dad’s Republicans.” Swift continued to say that she regretted not speaking up against Trump in the 2016 elections, “I’m saying right now, that this is something that I know is right, and, you guys, I need to be on the right side of history.” Swift continued to argue for her decision to her team, in regards to criticizing Marsha Blackburn, “It’s really basic human rights, and it’s right and wrong at this point, and I can’t see another commercial… and see her disguising these policies behind the words ‘Tennessee Christian Values’, those aren’t Tennessee Christian values. I live in Tennessee. I am a Christian. That’s not what we stand for. I need to do this. I need you to just… Dad, I just need you to forgive me for doing it ‘cause I’m doing it.”
Fans were moved and registered to vote as soon as she broke her silence the first time, so people wondered why she hadn’t broken her silence in regards to the current election cycle when they had watched her moved to tears with how strongly she felt in regards to making the public know who she was voting for and why. Some theorized that Swift’s current boyfriend, Travis Kelce was the reason for her change of heart.
In any case, Swift’s Instagram post with over 11,0000,000 likes said that she would be casting her vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. She goes on to explain why she believes they will be good leaders for the country, claiming that they would lead “by calm and not chaos.” The final paragraph in her post, in a masterful move by Swift, urges her fellow voters to do their own research, and not just listen to her or the ads they see on television. Swift then reshared the post on her story with a link for where to register to vote. In response, over 330,000 people visited Vote.gov sites overnight (The Hollywood Reporter).
The Harris Walz Campaign immediately latched onto Swift’s endorsements, just like they did with Charli XCX’s “brat” album. They issued a release that included over 28 references to Swift’s songs (USA Today). Additionally, 20 minutes after her endorsement the campaign started selling Harris-Walz-themed friendship bracelets, referencing the current trend at her Eras Tour (NPR). Donald Trump’s response was posted on his social media platform, “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT.”
In the end, we will never know if Swift’s and other celebrities’ endorsements for any candidate do anything for the election in today’s climate. Yet, there has been a sudden uptick in celebrities endorsing political candidates, instead of keeping it as taboo, as it used to be. Even after Swift’s first endorsement of the Tennessee democratic candidates failed, she still continues to endorse politicians. And yet, fans were getting mad at her for her perceived silence on the subject matter, even when there is no way to know if an endorsement makes any difference. At the end of this article, I, like Swift, will attempt to urge you to do your own research on the candidates, don’t only listen to your friends. Please, take the time to register to vote, you have only two more days left to register in Pa. Out of towners to make things easier for you, you can claim Eastern University as your address! The future is in our hands, and you can make a difference, your vote does count.
Natasha Chaillou 
Grace Nealy