Taylor Swift’s Kamala Harris endorsement leads to a flood of voter registration site visits
Look what she made them do.
Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris — shortly after Tuesday’s night debate between the Democratic nominee and former President Donald Trump — has led to an uptick in traffic to vote.gov, CNN reported.
A spokesperson for the federal agency that oversees the voter registration website told CNN that as of Wednesday afternoon, 337,826 visitors visited vote.gov after clicking on a custom URL Swift shared on Instagram after her Harris endorsement.
It was not immediately clear how many of the website visitors registered to vote.
Swift, 34, in her endorsement, said she was voting for Harris “because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.”
The megastar added that first time voters would need to register, adding that she would post a link of where to register and find early voting dates in her Instagram story.
Vote.gov, the federal government’s voting registration site run by the General Services Administration, directs voters to their individual states and territories to complete voter registration.
The federal website also saw a huge increase in engagement around the debate, with a spokesperson for Vote.org telling CNN there was a 585% spike in voters on the website between 9 p.m. through midnight.
While voter engagement likely rose during the debate, Andrea Hailey, the CEO of Vote.org, attributed part of that to the “Anti-Hero” singer and her effect on the Swifties.
“Taylor Swift’s impact on voter engagement is undeniable,” Hailey said in a statement to CNN.
Fresh off the European leg of her Eras Tour, the pop star said she has done her “research” for her pick and urged Swifties to do the same.
The “Cruel Summer” singer said she was inspired to come forward with her presidential pick after artificial intelligence was used to create a fraudulent image of her supporting the Republican candidate.
“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 the truth.”
Though she explained why she will be voting for Harris, she did not directly tell Swifties to support the vice president. Instead, Swift said she has done her “research” for her pick and urged her fans to do the same.
“If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most,” she said.
“As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country.”
Included in the endorsement was a photo of Swift holding her cat, Benjamin Button, from her Time Person of the Year spread in December.
The photo choice is believed to have been in response to a 2021 quote by Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, in which he referred to Democratic women as “childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives.”
Trump dismissed Swift’s endorsement, telling “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday that he much prefers Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“I actually like Mrs. Mahomes much better, if you want to know the truth. She’s a big Trump fan,” the Republican nominee said when asked about Swift’s endorsement.
Brittany Mahomes recently made headlines for liking one of Trump’s Instagram posts that outlined his “2024 GOP Platform.”
She later slammed her “haters” after her like sparked widespread backlash from those who took it as an endorsement of Trump.
