Not So Cruel Summer: Swift’s Endorsement Caps Harris’s Epic Night

And MAGA’s Taylor Derangement Syndrome kicks in.

Taylor Swift performs at Melbourne Cricket Ground on February 16, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Graham Denholm/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)

THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT TAYLOR SWIFT dropping her endorsement of Kamala Harris on Instagram right after the vice president mopped the floor with Donald Trump at the debate last night.

It was girl power.

The post could have been sent out today or later in the week. Or next week. After she endorsed Joe Biden in 2020, it was expected Swift would endorse Harris at some point. But after the first woman vice president dominated a former president with a master class of planning, preparation, and execution, showing she is more than capable of going up against murderous dictators anywhere, the most popular person in the world chose to weigh in.

Swift’s support for Harris wasn’t an assist, it was an affirmation. The timing was a triumph—a one-two punch from fierce, accomplished females.

Swift has been everywhere recently—strutting into the Chiefs’ winning game last week, singing, dancing, and playing air guitar at the U.S. Open. Dining in New York City. Travis Kelce is always on her arm, and social media permanently abuzz for new Swift sightings.

All along, she knew when she chose her moment it would turn into an explosion. It was a few minutes after 11 p.m. Social media lit up—by the time her post had been up for just fifteen minutes, it already had 1.2 million likes. By mid-day Wednesday, it was already well over 9 million and had been the subject of stories in just about every major news outlet.

In her announcement that she would be voting for Harris and Gov. Tim Walz, Swift noted that she felt compelled to clarify her views after Trump had shared a fake AI-created endorsement of him.

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.

Swift signed the note to her 283 million Instagram followers as “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady.” Trump’s decision to take Don Jr.’s advice and name JD Vance—hater of women without children—as his running mate is the Energizer Bunny of political gifts. Swift has some lyrics for them and all their misogynistic buddies: “Sweet like honey, karma is a cat. Purring in my lap ’cause it loves me.”

Karma is a cat. And a bitch.

Wednesday morning Trump said he is not a fan of Swift and that she would likely “probably pay a price for it . . . in the marketplace.”

Megyn Kelly fired off an “F-U” to Swift, and predicted a Republican boycott.

Meanwhile, Trump supporters on X claimed they were trying to sell their tickets for Swift’s upcoming shows.

And Elon Musk—always in need of attention and perhaps a bit impaired at 12:46 a.m.—decided to weigh in by offering to impregnate Swift. “Fine Taylor … you win…I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life.” Maybe he was inspired by Trump calling himself a “leader on fertilization.”

Swift will move numbers, particularly registration numbers. And that’s why MAGA is so scared. They will keep calling her a psy-op and a Deep State puppeteer, as they have been all year. They will unleash hideous conspiracy theories, with the help of the Russians.

While the haters gonna hate, Democrats will lean in to Swift’s imprimatur. Walz was being interviewed by Rachel Maddow when he learned live on air about the endorsement. After Maddow read the Instagram post to him, Walz thanked Swift for her “courage” and then called for “Swifties” to “give us a hand.”

The encouragement to vote early that Swift included in her post will be especially helpful to Democrats. The more votes they know about early, the more precisely they can target their resources toward the remaining gettable voters.

Swift’s brand won’t suffer, but she took a risk. Trumpers everywhere understand her reach and won’t get over her knifing Trump when he was lying in a self-induced puddle.

Swift sacrificed some followers for democracy—using her power for good.

Look what he made her do.