Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris. Will it be a touchdown with voters?
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – If you stand in a crowd of Kansas City Chiefs fans outside Arrowhead Stadium on game day, you might think the NFL asked Taylor Swift to perform an early season halftime show.
The Chiefs’ home stadium is frenzied during pre-game tailgates, as supporters barbecue, blare hip-hop and talk strategy and star players. But among seas of people in red, white and gold merch, flags and signs with Swift’s name also wave in the breeze. You’ll often hear more about the musician than her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
And as the 2024 presidential election approaches, you’ll also hear about Swift’s seismic endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Swift’s support was by far the most coveted endorsement of the election season. She fueled months of anticipation as liberal Swifties organized – and conspiracy theories about her public persona cropped up among parts of the right.
Swift’s connection to the NFL has represented American fandom at its peak: Football; pop music and, for the last few months, political speculation about when she would formally endorse the Democratic nominee.
Moments after Harris and former President Donald Trump's debate, Swift backed the vice president in an Instagram post to her 284 million followers, calling her “a steady-handed, gifted leader.”
The cultural and financial juggernaut didn't mention Trump, except to call out fake images of her supporting him, which the former president reposted on Truth Social. She signed her Tuesday statement as a “childless cat lady,” a reference to Sen. JD Vance’s comments about people without children.
Swift’s attendance at football games has always sparked controversy, with some fans saying she draws attention to the sport and others calling the songwriter a distraction. Endorsing a presidential candidate didn’t make Swift a less contentious presence at the Chiefs’ Sunday game against the Cincinnati Bengals, which they narrowly won.
Sheena Bryant, a 38-year-old realtor from Branson, Missouri, spent Sunday afternoon tailgating outside Arrowhead Stadium. She’s a Republican but said she enjoys Swift’s music.
"I wasn't a big fan of (Swift's endorsement,)" Bryant said. She believes everyone has a right to endorse either party, but she's hopeful Republicans can notch victories this fall and act on abortion and the southern border.
"Hopefully her followers will ask deeper level questions of why they're supporting," Bryant said, explaining that she thinks young women, a pivotal voting bloc this fall, could be particularly persuaded by Swift.
Chiefs fans also had plenty to say about Swift’s friendship with Brittany Mahomes, the businesswoman and wife of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. While Brittany Mahomes hasn’t publicly endorsed a 2024 candidate, she drew attention after appearing to like a MAGA Instagram post last month.
Chiefs fans on Sunday said friends with different political positions should respect each other. Jason Schuler, a 46 year old from Kansas City who works in development with children with disabilities, said “that’s what this country’s lost.”
“If my buddy over here has a difference of opinion with me, which we often do, it doesn’t mean that he’s wrong or I’m wrong,” Schuler said.
Trump and Vance tried to shake off Swift’s endorsement last week. Vance told Fox News Swift’s wealth makes her “fundamentally disconnected” from most Americans.
Trump in a Sunday morning post on Truth Social to his 7.7 million followers said, “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”
The former president also warned in an interview with Fox last week that Swift could “pay a price” for her statement among music consumers.
But if you walk around Arrowhead Stadium’s wide concourses on game day, you’ll see a clear sign Swift’s fans haven’t abandoned her: Friendship bracelets.
‘Thank you Taylor’
Friendship bracelets became the signature Swiftie accessory during her record-breaking Eras Tour. They’re a reference to Swift’s song “You’re on Your Own Kid,” in which she sings “So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it.”
Lauren Burwell, a 33-year-old director of a youth behavioral mental health program, sat outside Arrowhead Stadium waiting for a friend before the Chiefs game. She wore friendship bracelets referencing the Chiefs, but also Swift’s song “Betty” and her album “The Tortured Poets Department.”
She said she loved Swift’s endorsement and reposted it on Instagram.
“The best thing about her is that she just wants people to vote and just do their research. So when I saw that, my first thought was ‘Thank you Taylor,’” Burwell said.
Ryann Williams and Hilary Embry sat near a bar inside Arrowhead Stadium after kickoff. They called themselves "big fans" of Swift's endorsement.
Asked about Trump's post saying he hates Swift, Williams called it "really childish." But both women said they feared Swift could face violence as the former president's escalates his insults against her.
"Mostly I hope that Taylor stays safe, you know? I hope it doesn't incite any sort of activity against her. He has a lot of influence, just like she does. It feels dangerous and scary," the 36-year-old environmental scientist from Kansas City, said.
"I was shocked, but I wasn't surprised," Embry a 37-year-old salon owner from Kansas City, added.
Swift’s Harris endorsement isn't the first time she’s talked about politics. The 14-time Grammy winner endorsed President Joe Biden and Harris in 2020, and she’s said she regrets not getting involved in the 2016 presidential election.
Swift in her 2020 documentary “Miss Americana” also knocked Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., calling her “Trump in a wig.”
Some of Swift’s presence in American politics hasn’t been voluntary. Conservative conspiracy theories swirled earlier this year that Swift was part of a Pentagon plot fueled by Democrats to sway the 2024 election. Others falsely alleged her relationship with Kelce is a PR effort to boost the Chiefs, or the NFL as a whole.
A Monmouth University poll released in February found nearly one in five Americans said they believed a fake theory that Swift was involved in a plan to boost Biden’s reelection campaign, which he ended earlier this summer.
Kelce also drew some right-wing critics after he appeared in a Pfizer advertisement encouraging people to get the flu and COVID-19 vaccines. He also collaborated with Bud Light, which faced threats over its work with a transgender influencer.
Even as Swift sparks worldwide conversation, it's not clear how far her endorsement will ripple in November.
Does Taylor Swift’s endorsement matter?
Swift’s Democratic fans have eagerly awaited her endorsement.
One example: The group Swifties for Kamala popped up after Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket. The largely online organization picked up tens of thousands of followers on social media, hosting a 34,000-person Zoom call last month attended by singer Carole King; Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and hordes of Swifties.
Could Swift’s endorsement actually move the needle in a neck-and-neck election?
A Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll from May found that 9.2% of respondents said Swift’s endorsement would have influence in their vote. Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama led the poll, garnering 34.6% and 29.4%, respectively.
These slices probably won’t base their vote on Swift’s endorsement. Still, it could mean something in the pivotal swing states expected to determine the result of the election. Biden won the “Blank Space” singer’s home state of Pennsylvania in 2020 with 50% of the vote, compared to Trump’s 48.8%.
Resonate, a data and intelligence company that analyzes trillions of online interactions, found that 253,000 people in Pennsylvania could potentially view Swift’s endorsement as a factor as they vote this fall, alongside voters in other critical states. But experts have pointed out that celebrity endorsements also have a history of backfiring.
Swift for years has also encouraged her fans to register to vote. It’s another way she could have some sway in 2024. Vote.gov received 405,999 visitors in the day after Swift posted a custom URL to voting resources alongside her endorsement, according to data from the General Services Administration. In the week before, the site had about 30,000 daily visitors.
Kathryn Cramer Brownell, a professor of history at Purdue University, told USA TODAY she wasn’t surprised by Swift’s endorsement, since the “All Too Well” singer has previously spoken out about reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights and other issues Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz have made centerpieces of their campaign.
But will Swift win over any MAGA supporters? Maybe not.
Her endorsement is “getting people that perhaps are not as tuned into the election or may not be traditional dedicated partisans. It might open their eyes and get them interested in the campaign,” Brownell said.
And Swift’s endorsement doesn’t mark a new chapter for the NFL, or American sports culture generally.
Politics in American sports dates back to exclusionary hunting laws in colonial America, Matthew Andrews, a teaching professor of history at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, explained. The intersection extends all the way to the firestorm one-time San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick faced when he started protesting police brutality and injustice by kneeling during the national anthem.
“There are a lot of people who are saying, look, keep politics out of sports, right?” Andrews said. “Sports have always been political. They have always been political in this country from before this was a country.”
Are young voters swayed by Taylor Swift?
At the University of Missouri-Kansas City, a grassy campus nestled about 8 miles from Arrowhead Stadium, Paige Parquette sat between two friends outside the university's student center. An 18-year-old freshman student who quickly identified as a Swftie, Parquette said she wasn’t surprised by Swift’s endorsement because the singer supported Biden in 2020.
Parquette, from Maryland, is a Republican and planning to vote for Trump this fall. She wasn’t disappointed by Swift’s endorsement and said she was glad to see the singer share information on registering to vote.
“I think it’s good for people to know how to go out and get registered to vote because more voters make better representation," Parquette said.
Students dotted throughout the student center, library and performing arts space who spoke to USA TODAY, all said that they took note of Swift’s endorsement. But they were quicker to focus on issues facing the country, namely abortion rights, student debt, grocery prices and the southern border.
Neb Cockrell, another 18-year-old freshman, said they’re not really a Swift fan. But they do think “it was kind of gross that she had to announce that publicly because there was AI of her saying that she was going to vote for Trump.”
The history major from Kansas City said that they’re focused on a lot of factors as they vote in their first election, particularly abortion access, but “I’m not really basing it off of a celebrity.”
Back outside Arrowhead Stadium, Burwell, sitting under a tent in a red dress, agreed.
"I'm not influenced by Taylor Swift," Burwell said of Swift's endorsement. "But I'm glad she still did it."
Swift was in attendance at the Sunday game. She was seen cheering from a box as the Chiefs eked out their win, united with fans regardless of politics.
Contributing: Margie Cullen, Trevor Hughes and Jim Sergent, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Taylor Swift and Chiefs fandoms collide with Harris and Trump
