Swift officially endorsed Joe Biden for president in 2020, shouting out vice president (and current 2024 Democratic nominee) Kamala Harris’s debate performance and telling V magazine: “The change we need most is to elect a president who recognizes that people of color deserve to feel safe and represented, that women deserve the right to choose what happens to their bodies, and that the LGBTQIA+ community deserves to be acknowledged and included.” True to form, Swift even celebrated with custom Biden cookies!
What about 2016?
Well…to be completely honest, there isn’t much to report about Swift’s public political allegiances before 2018, the year when Swift endorsed former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen—a Democrat—in his senatorial race against Republican Marsha Blackburn in Swift’s home state. “In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now,” Swift wrote on Instagram at the time, adding: I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country.”
What political issues has Swift been outspoken about?
Swift has posted publicly in support of the youth gun control group March for Our Lives and the pro-LGBTQ+ Equality Act, referred to Trump’s presidency as an “autocracy” in 2019, and describes herself as “obviously pro-choice.” Swift has also advocated for the removal of Confederate statues in Tennessee, lamented the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade and allowed her song “Only the Young” to be used in a political ad for California Democrat Eric Swalwell’s 2020 re-election campaign.
How has Swift’s involvement affected political engagement in the past?
California governor Gavin Newsom said last year that Swift’s influence on the 2024 presidential election would be “profoundly powerful,” and while Swift hasn’t backed a candidate as of yet, a Harris-Walz endorsement seems imminent. Swift’s fanbase, though broad, certainly skews progressive. “If an election was held today, and there were only two candidates on the ballot, 69% of Swift Fans would vote for Biden, 21% Trump, and 10% are unsure,” a recent report from the polling firm Change Research found, also noting that Swifties’ top political priorities included abortion bans, gun violence, climate change, and high healthcare costs.
Hey, if “Swiftonomics” really are boosting the global economy, who’s to say a dedicated and loyal band of Swifties can’t effect meaningful political change? After all, on National Voting Day in 2023, a single Instagram story from Swift asking fans to register to vote at Vote.org brought in nearly 35,000 newly registered voters.