Taylor Swift has endorsed Kamala Harris for president just moments after the end of her presidential debate against Donald Trump.
In an Instagram post on Tuesday night, the pop star said she had done her “research”.
“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election,” she said. “I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.”
Swift went on to call Harris a “steady-handed, gifted leader”.
“I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos,” she wrote.
Swift announced the news alongside a photo of her with a cat and signed it “Childless Cat Lady”, a reference to comments made by Donald Trump’s vice-presidential candidate JD Vance.
The Ohio senator has faced a backlash from a 2021 clip in which he called several prominent Democrats – including Harris – “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives”.
Swift went on to compliment Harris’s choice of vice-presidential candidate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who she said had been “been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades”.
The singer said she was in part motivated to share her voting decision with the public after an AI image of her falsely endorsing Trump was posted on his website.
“It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation,” she said. “It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter.”
Swift is one of several celebrities to endorse Harris, including singers John Legend and Olivia Rodrigo, actor George Clooney and director Spike Lee.
Her Instagram post has clocked up about 1.5 million likes in the past 15 minutes.
Swift said in her post that she watched the debate, because “as a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country”.
She says that she had recently been made aware of Trump’s social media posts, which used fake AI images which claimed that she had endorsed him.
“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.”
She said it made her decide it was time to tell the “truth” about her decision to back Harris.
Swift went on to praise Harris’s running mate, Tim Walz, “who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades”.
“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.”
In a dig at comments made by Trump’s running mate about single women who own cats, she signed her post:
“With love and hope, Taylor Swift Childless Cat Lady”
Former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan, TV star Amber Rose and billionaire Elon Musk have endorsed Trump.
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