The 2024 presidential campaign season is well under way, and it's likely that the two biggest names in American politics, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, will be going head-to-head again on November 5.
But one highly influential player has yet to weigh in on the upcoming election, and some voters are wondering if they will remain silent or throw their considerable influence behind one of the candidates.
We mean, of course, Taylor Swift.
What Taylor Swift Has Said About the 2024 Election So Far
Thus far, Swift has not commented on the 2024 election, and while she did endorse President Biden in 2020, she waited until October of that year to make that support public.
I spoke to @vmagazine about why I’ll be voting for Joe Biden for president. So apt that it’s come out on the night of the VP debate. Gonna be watching and supporting @KamalaHarris by yelling at the tv a lot. And I also have custom cookies 🍪💪😘
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) October 7, 2020
📷 @inezandvinoodh pic.twitter.com/DByvIgKocr
At that time, she spoke with V magazine regarding the things she considered before choosing Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, for her vote.
"Under their leadership, I believe America has a chance to start the healing process it so desperately needs," Swift told the magazine.
However, that's not to say The Tortured Poets Department singer has been completely mum regarding politics during this election cycle. She used her platforms to encourage her followers to vote before the 2024 election.
In November 2023, Swift posted a reminder on her Instagram Stories to urge her fans to prepare for the election and visit Vote.org before arriving at the polls.
"If you are registered to vote in Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas or Virginia, it's time to use your voice," Swift wrote.
Andrea Hailey, CEO of Vote.org, applauded the singer for being "one of the busiest people in the world" who "always has time to stand up for democracy, use her own voice and encourage her fans and followers to use theirs."
In addition, Swift reminded her followers to vote on Super Tuesday in early March, though she was careful to not name any candidates in her message.
"I wanted to remind you guys to vote the people who most represent YOU into power," she posted in a handwritten note. "If you haven't already, make a plan to vote today."
Can Taylor Swift Affect the Voters?
As one of the most influential people in the world, Swift's support is decidedly a factor in how many voters will pay attention to the election.
A Newsweek-exclusive poll conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies found that 18 percent of voters said they would more likely vote for the candidate endorsed by Swift. Forty-five percent of the poll's participants said they are Swifties.
"Celebrity power in elections has grown because celebrity power itself has grown," communications consultant James Haggerty told Newsweek. "Media and social media are now the central organizing framework of many Americans' lives. And in a world awash in messages, it's the celebrity voices that really resonate."
However, Bowling Green State University professor David James Jackson told The Guardian that the idea of Swift flipping voters for Biden was doubtful.
"If the policy position is already popular among the group that I'm surveying, the celebrity endorsement makes it more popular. If it's unpopular, it makes it less unpopular, but it doesn't actually make it popular," Jackson explained, adding, "Are American elections really about persuasion anymore?"
In other words, if Swift did publically endorse Biden again, it's more likely that her voice would encourage those who already align with Democrat to make sure to vote, rather than convince Republican voters to cross party lines.
"If in fact it turns out to be a Biden-Trump rematch," Jackson posed, "how many people really haven't formed an opinion about either of those two?"
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