The Taylor Swift effect: Young voters register for presidential election

Taylor Swift was long silent about the presidential elections. Although she had made statements about politics before, fans and critics were not sure if she would speak out on her preference for the 2024 elections in public. But she did, and it caused a ripple effect.

Swift spoke out in favor of Kamala Harris for president and caused a noticeable increase in web traffic to the US voter registration portal. According to Infobae, the link to the registration page, posted by the singer on her Instagram account, managed to attract nearly 350,000 users.

Swift particularly addressed her young fans, who may have turned 18 recently, as well as all other Americans who had never voted before. "Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it's much easier to vote early. I'll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story."

In a long Instagram post, the singer explained that after watching the debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, she had decided her vote with certainty.

As the Trump team feared, Taylor Swift's vote is for Kamala Harris. She calls the presidential candidate "a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos."

The billionaire artist wrote her lengthy Instagram post because a fake message had circulated on social media implying that she was a Trump supporter. She wanted to get that myth out of the way. "I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter," she stated. "The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth."

"I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election," the star continued. "I'm voting for kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them."

Swift signed her long message as 'Childless Cat Lady' in a joke aimed at Trump's number 2, JD Vance. He accused Kamala Harris and other progressive women of being "less empathetic" and even "sociopaths" for not having children.

According to The New York Times, Donald Trump had already expressed growing concern to his supporters about Taylor Swift's voting behavior.

Even though she is surrounded by a relatively conservative crowd of American Football players and fans, with her boyfriend being Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift tends to go her own way when it comes to political views.

Taylor Swift's call for a vote for the Democratic Party is not exactly a surprise. The big stars of Hollywood and pop are usually progressive, although there are exceptions (Hulk Hogan, Jon Voight, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Sorbo, etc).

Taylor Swift has a political history of having publicly supported Democrats. In the previous election, she spoke out in favor of Joe Biden.

Donald Trump is a man fascinated by celebrities, so what a superstar like Taylor Swift says is of enormous importance to him. But beyond the question of Mr. Trump's ego, what is the effect of a pop star's endorsement?

In a race as close as the one between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, any support is useful. And, as we have seen, Taylor Swift can encourage the vote of young people who, perhaps, remained somewhat alien to the political fight.

The reaction of Trump's people was blunt: they dismissed Taylor Swift as a representative of an elite completely removed from the people.

Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that Taylor Swift's endorsement was "further evidence that the Democratic Party has unfortunately become the party of the wealthy elite."

Whatever the case, the brightest star of the moment, Taylor Swift, has set a trend: she will vote for Kamala Harris, and several other stars have followed in declaring their support for the Democratic candidate as well. Now it remains to be seen what the majority of the American people will do.