The Harris-Walz presidential campaign is taking a page from the Swiftie playbook.
Within an hour after Taylor Swift endorsed the Democratic ticket in the 2024 presidential election, the campaign’s official store began offering “Harris-Walz friendship bracelets” for preorder under a description that, in part, reads, “Are you ready for it?” It’s an apparent nod to the megastar, who has a song titled “…Ready For It?” on her 2017 “reputation” album and whose “Eras Tour” has been marked by the swapping of similar handmade bracelets, inspired by a lyric in her 2022 song “You’re On Your Own, Kid.”
But while those on the “Eras Tour” are often colorful, plastic beaded bracelets with words reminiscent of some Swiftie reference, the Harris-Walz version offers a simple two-pack of a blue and a black string bracelet with clay beads spelling out the Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates’ last names. At the end of the bracelet, there’s another bead that reads “24.”
The campaign bracelets, listed at $20 each, are expected to be released Sept. 24 following the presale, but the Harris-Walz official store states they’re already sold out.
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Swift’s endorsement came by way of an Instagram post shortly after the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump wrapped on ABC News Tuesday night. In the lengthy caption, accompanying a photo of herself and her cat, Benjamin Button, Swift said she’d be casting her vote for the Harris-Walz ticket in the November election and explained why.
“I’m voting for @kamalaharris 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,” Swift wrote. “I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.”
The singer has been vocal about her support for Democratic candidates in the past, confirming in 2020 that she’d be voting for President Biden and Harris. The following year, she told Vanity Fair that Trump’s presidency pushed her to educate herself and then publicly support the “leadership that moves us beyond this divisive, heartbreaking moment in time.”
In her Tuesday post, Swift also pushed her followers to educate themselves on the candidates and to research the “topics that matter to you the most.” She said as a voter, she makes sure to “watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country” and that she decided to be transparent about her voting decision after Trump shared AI-generated posts of her falsely endorsing him.
“The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth,” Swift said. “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 concluded the endorsement by urging her followers to register to vote and to even vote early before signing the post with “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady,” a reference to comments Trump’s vice presidential running mate, JD Vance, made in 2021.
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Soon after the post, Harris walked off a debate watch party stage to Swift’s song, “The Man,” while Walz said in an interview with MSNBC that he was “incredibly grateful” for the musician’s support.
“I say that also as a cat owner, a fellow cat owner,” Walz said. “That was eloquent, and it was clear, and that’s the type of courage we need in America to stand up.”
Meanwhile, Trump seemed to blow off the endorsement in an appearance on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday morning.
“I was not a Taylor Swift fan,” he said. “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.”
