Taylor Swift said she plans to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday in a post on Instagram shortly after the first presidential debate between Harris and former President Donald Trump.
“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election,” Swift said in the post, adding that she’s voting for Harris “because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.”
Swift said Harris “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,” noting that she was “so heartened and impressed by her selection” of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate due to his support for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and “a woman’s right to her own body.”
The megastar said she had been made aware of recent artificial intelligence images that Trump had promoted that suggested she had endorsed the former president, adding that the the incident “brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter.”
Swift said she watched the debate on Tuesday night and urged her fans to research the candidates and issues, while closing her statement by explaining that she had done her research and “made my choice.”
“Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make,” Swift said.
Swift’s possible endorsement has been the subject of intense debate in the political sphere. Earlier in Swift’s career, she had stayed out of political endorsements, but in 2018, she issued her first endorsement, for Democratic Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen in the Senate race against Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn, who won the race. In the 2020 election, she backed President Biden. And at this year’s Democratic National Convention, rumors swirled that Swift or Beyonce would make an appearance to back the new Democratic nominee.
The popstar also appeared to troll the Republican ticket with a familiar moniker, signing “Childless Cat Lady” below her name.