In politics, celebrity endorsements are typically about one thing — boosting enthusiasm. High enthusiasm usually translates into higher voter turnout, more volunteers and more donors.
The enthusiasm around Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is very apparent. Her post on Instagram has more than 10 million likes.
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Swift’s post wasn’t just about supporting Harris. She was also combating AI-created images that claimed she supported former President Trump. She said, “The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.”
Megan Duncan, an associate professor of journalism at Virginia Tech said Swift likely knows her followers might not be active voters.
“The people who are part of a Taylor Swift fandom are more likely to be a part of a demographic voting bloc that’s not as engaged, least likely to vote,” Duncan said.
Since the singer’s first public comment about politics in 2018, she has reminded her followers to register to vote every year.
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Despite being posted at 11 p.m. — and only on Instagram — Swift’s post about the 2024 election prompted action. The General Services Administration said her link to vote.gov drove nearly 406,000 people to the site. And data analytics company TargetSmart tracked a spike in people checking their voter registration status.
“She recognizes that there are first-time voters and first-time presidential voters, and made sure to get that link to register and figure out if your state has early voting,” Duncan said.
Even if Swift says nothing else about politics between now and November, analysts believe her endorsement will continue to have an impact. Duncan notes she’ll be in the public eye, maybe at NFL games, and when people see her, they could mention the endorsement.
