Swift's political endorsement sparks fierce Republican backlash

Taylor Swift announced her support for Kamala Harris in the November US presidential election on September 11 at 17:00 Greenwich Time. Republicans launched a ruthless attack on both the singer and her fans. They were probably not pleased to hear that within 24 hours of Swift's announcement on Instagram, the website where one could register to vote (as the artist appealed) had a record-breaking number of over 360,000 visits.

We have already written about the response to Swift's statement from Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the latter in an exceptionally slimy manner. Among the most misogynistic posts about Swifties on X was one from well-known podcaster Myron Gaines. He wrote: "Unfortunately, her support will matter A LOT. Taylor Swift's fanbase is overhelmingly women with an IQ of 86 that lack critical thinking skills and think 'Trump = bad misogynist.'"

Gaines also had a ready solution: "Women far more susceptible to propaganda than men are. If we repealed the 19th [Amendment to the US Constitution - ed.] and women didn't vote, we wouldn't have to worry about Kamala being president. Women vote on emotion, and celebs which is exactly what the democrats use in their campaigns. Facts are facts."

Can Swift's support influence the election outcome in the United States? It sounds improbable, but it is possible. Less than two months before the election, poll results between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are extremely close. The candidate who manages to convince more undecided voters, who are not committed voters of either the Democrats or Republicans, will win.

Even if Swift does not directly influence the election result, she has achieved something groundbreaking in US politics. She convinced Republicans of the reality of the climate crisis. The far-right account End Wokeness, which has nearly 3 million followers on X, wrote: "Taylor Swift emits 8,205 tons of CO2 in a year. An average American emits 16. This is who lectures us on the climate."

Interestingly, in her Wednesday statement, Swift did not address climate issues. Still, it can be assumed that her support for the Democratic candidate led the End Wokeness account to equate it with support for Kamala Harris's progressive climate policies. The comment: "Taylor Swift is so powerful that she now has Fox News finally admitting climate change is bad," already has 256,000 likes on X.