* READ MORE: Taylor Swift live in Edinburgh: The ‘Eras Tour’ finally hits the UK
Earlier this week (September 10) following the first debate between presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, Swift broke her silence on the elections, throwing her support behind the current Vice President.
In her post, she championed Kamala Harris as a “steady-handed, gifted leader”, and that Swift believes “we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos”. Swift also said Harris “fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them”.
Taylor Swift attends the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards. CREDIT: Noam Galai/Getty Images
Swift also urged voters to do their own research to make an informed decision on who they should vote for, and recommended first-time voters to register ahead of time. She also included a link to registration site Vote.gov to her Instagram account.
According to CNN correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister and CNN‘s Senior White House producer Betsy Klein, nearly half a million people visited Vote.gov directly from the link Swift shared within 24 hours of her post – up from around 30,000 site visitors a day.
Updated #TaylorSwift numbers:
In the 24 hrs since Taylor endorsed Kamala & shared a link to
https://t.co/pnpL0wk6xP, the site saw 405,999 ppl referred directly from the singer's insta, @betsy_klein reports.
For context, the week prior, the site had about 30,000 ppl per day.
https://t.co/Agpp3h5CdQ
— Elizabeth Wagmeister (@EWagmeister) September 12, 2024
According to data firm TargetSmart’s senior adviser Tom Bonier, Swift’s endorsement of Harris has directly led to a “400 per cent or 500 per cent increase” in voter registration – resulting in 9000 to 10,000 registrations per hour. Bonier added that the spike is “unlike anything” he’s ever seen.
Following Taylor Swift's endorsement of Kamala Harris, there has been a "400% or 500% increase" in voter registration — between 9,000-10,000 people per hour, according to data firm TargetSmart.
"It's really unlike anything I've seen," says TargetSmart senior adviser Tom Bonier. pic.twitter.com/4wC4ejdfaX
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 12, 2024
Following Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump said the singer will “probably pay a price” for her decision. “I was not a Taylor Swift fan,” he began. “It was just a question of time. She couldn’t possibly endorse Biden… But she’s a very liberal person. She seems to always endorse a Democrat, and she’ll probably pay a price for it in the marketplace.”
Swift endorsed Biden in the 2020 election, when he ran against Trump, and has criticised Trump in the past too. In June, Trump described her as “unusually beautiful”, and in August shared AI-generated images falsely suggesting he had support from the singer and her fans.
Taylor Swift, Kamala Harris. Credits: Kate Green/Getty Images and Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
She addressed these in her Instagram post, too, writing, “Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. 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. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.”
Following her endorsement of Kamala Harris, Swift attended the 2024 MTV VMAs, where she won seven of the 10 awards she was nominated for. She also won the night’s biggest award, Video Of The Year, making her the only artist to ever take home the prize three years in a row.
Her haul included Song of the Summer, Best Collaboration, Best Direction and Best Editing – all of which were for ‘Fortnight’, her ‘The Tortured Poets Department collaboration with Post Malone. She also took home huge awards including Artist of the Year and Best Pop.
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