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Following a viral photograph where Taylor Swift was seen hugging Trump supporter Brittany Mahomes at the U.S. Open, the calls for the pop star to endorse democratic candidate Kamala Harris for the 2024 United States presidential election were deafening. And they were heard.
The singer finally picked a side in the elections, choosing to stand behind the Harris-Walz campaign just as she had done four years ago for Joe Biden. She also took the opportunity to take a few well-deserved digs at the Republican camp, namely Trump’s running mate JD Vance, and his misogynistic comments about childless women.
The endorsement was made via Instagram, underneath a very intentional photo of Swift holding her beloved cat Benji from her 2023 Time Person of The Year article — this because the record-breaking superstar is herself one of those so-called “childless cat ladies” that the vice-presidential candidate says are running the country and projecting their “miserable” lives onto everybody else.
If you’re trying to win the sympathies of Swifties, as the Trump campaign was very clearly attempting to do with those weird artificial intelligence-generated propaganda images, then you would be smart to refrain from attacking cat-loving women, because there’s arguably no bigger fan of the little furry felines than Taylor Swift.
“Cat lady” is, of course, synonymous with a lot more than just loving feline company, however. Women have historically been scrutinized for picking their careers over starting a family, or for choosing not to have children in general. They’re seen by more traditional-minded people as frustrated and cold or accused of having some kind of mental, psychological, or emotional impediment that warrants treatment. Taylor Swift, who is 34, childless, and a loving owner of three cats, has been on the receiving end of this rhetoric countless times, and so has Vice President Harris, even though she is, in fact, a mother to her two step-children, husband Douglas Emhoff’s daughter Ella and son Cole.
The “Miss Americana” singer naturally signed her lengthy letter to fans and voters around the country with a snappy (and frankly iconic) “With love and hope, Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady,” but not before addressing Trump’s intentions to fabricate her endorsement.
Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.”
https://twitter.com/eds_afterglow/status/1833779953592140146
The silence around Trump’s use of her likeness and her friendly embrace with an enthusiast of the former president had generated intense backlash and worry from Swift’s female and LGBTQ+ fans, whose rights are recurringly threatened by the Republican party. The star’s seemingly apolitical attitude was clashing with the statements she had made in her 2020 Netflix documentary Miss Americana when she decided it was no longer possible to stay silent in the face of the country’s rising extremism and gender-based hate speech.
It was speculated that Swift could be holding out until she was done with her last Eras Tour concerts in the U.S. in the aftermath of a terrorist threat to her consequentially canceled Vienna dates, but it looks like the heat was a tad too unbearable to endure until November. With stakes this high, making a statement as arguably the biggest American celebrity of our time was vital. Swift’s was equal parts sensible and sassy, just like most everything she does.