The Swifties Have Organized
Taylor Swift has yet to endorse a presidential candidate. But on Tuesday night, Swifties raised over $100,000 for Kamala Harris during a virtual rally that included Carole King and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Photo: Getty Images CelebritiesPolitics Taylor Swift
Swifties might have a…reputation…for being one of the more obsessive and cult-like fan bases in the pop star universe. And that may be true, but when you spend close to two decades pouring over every single song lyric and closely inspecting Instagram photos in case Taylor Swift included a tiny Easter egg hinting at when she’ll drop her 22nd studio album or what she’ll be doing in 2031 (because 31 backward is 13…), you’ll inevitably develop some useful skills, such as time management, attention to detail, and high-level organizational abilities.
Swift herself has yet to endorse a presidential candidate (though she endorsed Joe Biden in 2020), but a group of Swifties have put their hard-fought organizing skills to good use and are rallying behind Kamala Harris. Swifties for Kamala launched hours after Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race in July, and has since amassed more than 250 million followers across social media platforms.
On Tuesday night, the grassroots group held their first two-hour virtual rally, which included appearances from Carole King, and senators Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand. Over 38,000 Swifties joined the call, raising over $122,000 for the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz campaign—an amount that’s since increased to $150,000, according to NPR.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT), and the chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party Anderson Clayton also joined Tuesday night’s call. Each speaker reportedly shared their favorite Swift song (Markey said his favorite is “Snow on the Beach), and made a call to action or shared their experience with canvassing or mobilizing voters. Swift, who has no affiliation with the group, did not join the call. Irene Kim, one of the group’s co-founders, told CNN she hoped Harris or Walz might join, but they didn’t. Guess they weren’t…ready for it. (Sorry.)