Looking Back at Taylor Swift’s Political History as She Endorses Kamala Harris

Taylor Swift has officially endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

After months of speculation over who Swift would endorse, the Grammy-award winning singer took to Instagram minutes after the presidential debate to announce that she would be voting for Harris.

But what is Swift’s political history and what led her to endorsing Harris? Newsweek looks back at the pop titan’s political past.

Early Years: “I Don’t Talk About Politics”

In 2009, following the election of President Barack Obama, Swift told Rolling Stone that, “I’ve never seen this country so happy about a political decision in my entire time of being alive. I’m so glad this was my first election.”

“I don’t talk about politics because it might influence other people,” a then 22-year-old Swift told Time magazine in 2012. “And I don’t think that I know enough yet in life to be telling people who to vote for.”

2018: The Beginning of Swift’s Political Era

The conversation around Swift’s politics reached fever pitch in 2016, as the race between then businessman and reality television star Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saw the tides change around celebrities’ involvement with politics.

But it wasn’t until 2018 that Swift publicly revealed her political leanings, endorsing the Democratic candidates Phil Bredesen and Jim Cooper in the 2018 U.S. midterm elections in her home state of Tennessee, in a highly publicized Instagram post.

The singer explored political themes in two songs that feature on her 2019 album Lover: “The Man” and “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince.” The latter song was the opener of Swift’s record-breaking Era’s tour.

The 2020 Election: “The Right Side of History”

2020 saw the release of her documentary Miss Americana, where she spoke candidly and in depth about her political views.

In the film, Swift declared that she wanted to be “on the right side of history” in her political endorsement.

The singer ultimately endorsed Joe Biden and Harris.

Then President Donald Trump – who said he liked Swift’s music 25 percent less after she came out as a Democrat in 2019 – was reportedly upset that Swift endorsed president Joe Biden in the 2020 election. According to The Guardian, he complained that Swift has chosen “the worst and most corrupt President in the History of our Country,” earlier in the year.

Swift has frequently criticized Trump, accusing him in 2020 of “stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency” and vowed that he would “be voted out” in 2020. She also described his leadership as “ineffective” in a post on X.

Women’s Rights and LGBTQ+ Advocacy

In response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Swift posted on X, formerly Twitter: “I’m absolutely terrified that this is where we are – that after so many decades of people fighting for women’s rights to their own bodies, today’s decision has stripped us of that.”

Swift reiterated her pro-choice stance in her endorsement of Harris, stating that she was “heartened and impressed” by Harris’ selection of running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who in Swift’s words has been standing up for “a woman’s right to her own body for decades.”

Swift also referenced Walz’s advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, a cause which Swift herself has advocated for. The music video for “You Need To Calm Down,” the second single from her 2019 album Lover featured appearances from prominent LGBTQ+ figures including Todrick Hall, Laverne Cox and Dexter Mayfield.

In 2019, Swift wrote a letter to Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, urging the Republican to support the Equality Act, which would prevent sex and gender-based discrimination. Later in 2020, Swift promised to “always advocate,” for the LGBTQ community, when receiving the Icon Award at the 2020 Attitude Awards. She added that she believes “very firmly that everyone should be able to live out their love story without fear of discrimination.”

Swift has also been outspoken about in support of survivors of sexual assault. At the Reputation stadium tour in 2018, Swift performed the song “Clean” from her album 1989 and spoke about sexual assault when introducing the track.

“I just think about all the people who weren’t believed and the people who haven’t been believed,” she told the crowd in Tampa, Florida. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry to anyone who wasn’t believed.”

2024: Tackling Misinformation

Back in August, Trump shared a fake image of Taylor Swift endorsing his campaign. In the artificial intelligence-generated image, Swift was dressed like Uncle Sam, in a similar style to a World War I recruitment poster and had the words “Taylor Swift Wants You To Vote For Donald Trump” printed on it.

Trump captioned the post on his Truth Social account, “I accept!”

Swift addressed this in her endorsement of Harris: “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 needed to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter.”

The endorsement comes after criticism of Swift’s friendship with Brittany Mahomes, who has seemingly come out in support of Trump. Swift faced near-instant backlash from her fans, who accused her of being a hypocrite after she was seen at the U.S. open dancing with Mahomes.

Newsweek has reached out to Swift’s representatives for comment.

At the time of writing, Swift’s endorsement has been liked on Instagram almost 8 million times.

Swift signed her endorsement, “With love and hope,” before calling herself a “Childless Cat Lady,” in a reference to the controversial comments made by Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.

Newsweek has approached the Trump and Harris campaigns for comment.

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