Taylor Swift has endorsed Kamala Harris after her debate with Donald Trump, calling the Democratic nominee a 'steady-handed, gifted leader.'
The megastar made her announcement in an Instagram post, which went live minutes after the presidential debate and garned thousands of likes within minutes.
Swift included a photo of her cat, a knock at Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance who mocked 'childless cat ladies.' Harris supporters took the chant to heart and formed groups of cat ladies for Harris.
The singer, 34, said in her post that that she was disturbed by false reports she had endorsed Donald Trump.
'I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election,' she wrote.
She signed her post 'childless cat lady.'
The Trump campaign shrugged off the endorsement.
'It's further evidence that the Democrat Party, unfortunately, is the party of the wealthy elite,' Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told DailyMail.com.
'And Taylor Swift may make great music, but she does not understand the struggles of everyday, hardworking families, and President Trump is speaking on behalf of those hardworking, struggling families who don't get the privilege, like Taylor Swift, of living in a gated community, who need their local police to be funded, who want their Second Amendment right to defend themselves and their family because they don't have armed security like Taylor Swift has.'
Swift has endorsed before. She backed Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
And in an interview in 2019 with The Guardian, Swift said she supported Hilary Clinton over Trump in the 2016 election and accused Trump of treating the presidency like 'an autocracy'.
Her post describing her endorsement was lengthy:
'Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight. 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. As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country,' Swift wrote.
'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,' she added.
She noted that 'I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she 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. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.'
'I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early. I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story,' she wrote.
She ended it: 'With love and hope, Taylor Swift Childless Cat Lady.'
She featured her calico cat Benjamin Button. It is her third of three cats.
Tim Walz learned of the endorsement in real time during an interview on MSNBC.
'I'm incredibly grateful to Taylor Swift,' Walz said. 'I say that as a fellow cat owner.'
'That's the type of courage we need in America,' he added. 'This is an opportunity Swifties: KamalaHarris.com - get over there.'
Harris stopped by a watch party after her debate with Trump. Her walk-off song was The Man by Swift.
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Swift's post garnered more than 2.8 million likes in less than an hour. Swift has 283 million followers on Instagram.
The singer, who is dating Chiefs player Travis Kelce, has split from her friend Brittany Mahomes, wife of Chiefs quarterback Patrick.
Mahomes liked some of Trump's instagram posts, leading to speculation she supports the former president.
And she sent Instagram into meltdown after she liked a reply from a follower which said: 'TRUMP-VANCE 2024'.
She also liked another message of support after she incited fury for initially liking a post from Trump about the November election.
'Glad to see you aren't backing down,' the comment that she liked said. 'We are all entitled to our own opinions and shouldn't be bullied into submission.'
Trump thanked Mahomes for her support.
'I want to thank beautiful Brittany Mahomes for so strongly defending me, and the fact that MAGA is the greatest and most powerful Political Movement in the History of our now Failing Country,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social network earlier this month.
Swift faced blowback from some over her close friendship with Mahomes. The two women often hang out at games together and are frequent huggers.
Swift and Kelce joined the two Mahomes at the U.S. Open in New York. Swift got attacked by some fans for hugging Mahomes and faced pressure to clarify her own views on the presidential election.
It's unclear how influential Swift's endorsement will be.
An NBC News poll from November found 40% of registered voters had positive views of Swift, while 16% had negative views.
But
Swift has a large fan base among young voters. In her endorsement of
Harris, she also encouraged people to register to vote.
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