Before the 2024 presidential election occurred, pop star Taylor Swift joined the fight, endorsing Kamala Harris. With her focus on voter registration, how much did she really affect regarding the electoral outcome? Did Swift do enough by rallying her young audience to significantly impact this presidential election?
On Sept. 9, Vice President Harris squared off against former President Donald Trump in the presidential debate. The following morning, Swift posted her endorsement on Instagram, instructing her followers to register to vote. She posted a link to register in the caption for her 283 million Instagram followers. When asked if this would be helpful, Vivienne Kurland, a student at Montclair High School, said she believed this would result in a boost for Harris’s supporters. “It would because I think that it would make it easier,” Kurland said. “Right now I don’t know how to find something like that so I think it would help me.”
According to The New York Times, within 24 hours, 405,999 people visited Vote.gov through the link which beat the previous daily average of 30,000.
After Swift’s endorsement of Harris, Swift gained respect by several MHS students. “Before [the endorsement], I didn’t have much of an opinion on her but now I have more respect for her,” freshman Cameron Mutsau said.
Ninth-grader Morgan Dugan echoed Mutsau’s sentiments. “Now I like her even more knowing that she is a Democrat and not a Republican.”
On the other hand, Trump lost the respect of several MHS students when on Sept. 15, he posted “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” on X, where he has 91.7 million followers. Similarly, he told reporters he likes “Taylor’s music about 25% less now.”
“What he said was definitely childish and very unprofessional,” MHS student Cameron Brown said. “I just think that he only said that because she endorsed the other side. Because if Swift endorsed him, he definitely wouldn’t have been saying that.” This unprofessionalism could be a deciding factor in someone’s vote, thanks to “Miss Americana” herself.
In her documentary “Miss Americana,” Swift lamented neglecting to endorse Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election and said, “I need to be on the right side of history,” referring to this presidential election. Dugan said if Swift were to have endorsed Clinton, she most likely would have won that election, as Swift had great power over a large audience in 2016.
Now in 2024, her popularity has skyrocketed due to her infamous Eras Tour. This begs the question: If it is believed that Swift could win the election for Clinton in 2016, how much more did she do for Harris in 2024 with her increased fame?
The presidential inauguration is always held in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 20, and an interesting possibility is now put to rest with Harris’s defeat. If Harris won the election, would Swift’s influence have been enough to earn her the role of guest of honor?
“I think that because Taylor Swift’s fan base is so big, endorsing Harris was a big decision that probably gained and lost her fans, but she was willing to take that risk. So yes, I think she deserves a seat,” Mutsau said.
With Election Day in the books, MHS students recognize that Taylor Swift cannot be the deciding factor in a presidential election, but she can do her part to help register a new generation of voters and use her clout to pull more young people into the electoral process.
