A viral claim that musician megastar Taylor Swift had subtly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign in an Instagram post lacks substantial evidence as it seems that a number of social media users misinterpreted a silhouette.
The singer remains mum on the 2024 presidential election.
Swift has often been the focal point of speculation over whether she would back a candidate in the 2024 presidential race. An endorsement could be a boost to a campaign due to Swift’s massive popularity and fan base, known as the “Swifties.” The 14-time Grammy winner has not said whether she plans to make an endorsement in the election, though Democrats remain optimistic about that possibility.
An Instagram post made by Swift on Tuesday quickly led to viral speculation that the star was making a veiled endorsement of Harris.
The photograph shared shows Swift performing during the “Lover” set of her tour stop in Warsaw, Poland, with a silhouetted woman standing behind her waving with her back to the camera. A number of social media users remarked that the woman resembled Harris, fueling speculation about a possible endorsement.
However, the photograph, which was featured on the seventh slide of the post commemorating the Warsaw concerts, appears to simply feature a background singer walking on the stage before Swift’s performance of her song “Lover.”
The routine is nothing new, having long been part of the record-breaking tour.
Thomas Niedermueller/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
Video posted to X by user Jacob Wulff, who identifies himself as supporter of former President Donald Trump, further debunks the claim. The full video from the concert shows the background singer walking toward the back of the stage in between songs while Swift addresses the crowd.
Newsweek reached out to a spokesperson for Swift for comment via email.
Despite any direct comments or evidence, the endorsement claim spread quickly across social media by both left and right-leaning accounts on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning.
“Did Taylor Swift just unofficially endorse VP Harris?” wrote the X profile Republicans Against Trump, which has more than 700,000 followers.
Call to Activism, which has more than one million followers, wrote, “Taylor Swift just low key endorsed Kamala Harris and MAGA is losing their minds.” That post had been viewed 1.6 million times by Wednesday morning.
“BREAKING NEWS: Taylor Swift is about to reportedly endorse Kamala Harris, she just uploaded this photo to Instagram which appears to have Harris in the background,” wrote @dom_lucre, a profile that also has more than a million followers.
Swift has not said whether she is planning to endorse any political candidates this year. She has previously been vocal in her support of LGBTQ+ and women’s rights.
Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at Northeastern University, told Newsweek on Wednesday that a Swift endorsement “could be worth its weight in gold for the Harris campaign.”
“The artists appeals broadly to widespread audiences, and many fans would take cues from an individual they like as much as they do Taylor Swift. Fans just love her and, for many, that will morph into trusting her political judgments,” he said.
While few things move the needle massively in elections, small shifts resulting from endorsements could be “consequential” in a tight race, he said.
“Endorsements by popular figures can be effective, especially for key subgroups of voters,” he said. “In the case of Taylor Swift, an endorsement can excite and mobilize fans, many of whom are young voters who comprise a crucial segment of the Democratic coalition and who could be critical to a Harris victory not only in terms of votes but also as campaign volunteers.”
In March, Swift issued a message on the Super Tuesday presidential primaries urging her fans to “vote the people who most represent YOU into power” and “make a plan to vote today.”
Swift backed President Joe Biden during the 2020 campaign after largely staying out of politics early in her career.
Trump questioned her past support for Biden during a meeting with House Republicans on June 13. Trump allegedly asked, “Why would she endorse this dope?” and added, “He doesn’t know how to get off a stage,” according to CNN.
In an October 2020 interview with V magazine, Swift said she was “proudly” voting for Biden in that year’s election because she believed the U.S. had a chance to “start the healing process it so desperately needs” under his leadership.
“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,” she said.
“Everyone deserves a government that takes global health risks seriously and puts the lives of its people first,” Swift continued. “The only way we can begin to make things better is to choose leaders who are willing to face these issues and find ways to work through them.”
