Will Taylor Swift's support for Harris influence the US election? – News

International pop star Taylor Swift's endorsement of Kamala Harris may have boosted the Democratic vice president's hopes of winning over young voters, but the question remains: will the celebrity endorsement make a difference on Election Day?

In a neck-and-neck race for the White House seat, both Harris and her rival, Republican former President Donald Trump, are doing everything they can to attract voters on Election Day, November 5, and during early voting starting next week.

Trump, for his part, rejected Swift's support for Harris on Tuesday night, saying he was “not a Taylor fan.”

Given the declining number of young voters in a country where the voting age is 18, the first challenge for both campaigns may be to get these people to vote in the first place.

Young voters played a crucial role in Democratic President Joe Biden's victory over then-incumbent Trump in 2020. According to data from Tufts University, Biden received about 61 percent of the vote, while Trump received 36 percent of the vote among 18- to 29-year-old voters.

A July 2024 analysis by Tufts University's youth and civic advocacy group Circle found that voter registrations in 36 states among 18- to 29-year-olds have declined significantly since then. Harris launched her campaign on July 21, after Biden withdrew his candidacy.

“Registering young people will remain a major task in the coming months,” the analysis states.

Enter Swift, an artist so successful that she tied hip-hop star Beyoncé's record of 30 awards in her lifetime at the MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday night. A 2023 Morning Consult poll found that 55 percent of self-described Swift fans were Democrats and 45 percent were millennials ages 28 to 43.

“I'm voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes that I believe need a fighter to represent them,” Swift wrote to her 284 million Instagram followers on Tuesday, urging them to register to vote and make their own choices.

Her post received 10.4 million likes. The vote.gov website had 405,999 visitors within 24 hours after Swift shared a custom URL with her followers, a U.S. government spokesperson said.

Harris' aides say they would welcome Swift's active campaigning, such as appearing at a rally in her home state of Pennsylvania, a swing state that could well be decisive in the election.

But the campaign team itself had no influence on Swift's decision to support Harris.

The vice president's staff said they did not learn of Swift's endorsement until the 34-year-old entertainer posted it on Instagram minutes after the vice president left the debate stage in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

A question of influence

What difference does celebrity endorsement make?

A 2008 Northwestern University report found that Oprah Winfrey's endorsement helped Barack Obama gain a million more votes.

Swift “is one of the most influential people of our generation and we are really excited about how we can translate her message into political action and get more people involved,” said Jessica Siles, a spokeswoman for Voters of Tomorrow.