Some members of Taylor Swift’s massive fan base are organizing and taking action for their preferred presidential candidate — even without the pop star’s public support.
“Swifties for Kamala,” which has no official affiliation with Swift or Vice President Kamala Harris, had raised $142,000 for Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, as of Wednesday afternoon, said Irene Kim, a co-founder of the organization and its executive director.
Most of it — $122,000 — was collected during a Zoom event the group hosted Tuesday. About 34,000 people joined the roughly two-hour call, which featured appearances from singer-songwriter Carole King and Sens. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, Kirsten Gillibrand, of New York, and Ed Markey, of Massachusetts; and Reps. Chris Deluzio, of Pennsylvania, and Becca Balint, of Vermont.
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Swift endorsed Joe Biden and Harris in 2020 but has not thrown her support behind a candidate this year. Many Swifties, who have been mobilizing online for the past month, have felt emboldened to rally behind Harris, even without an endorsem*nt from Swift.
“We’ve seen the good we can do as a fandom and what happens when we mobilize our community, so we don’t need to wait,” Kim, 29, told NBC News. “We personally know what our values are. We also know what Taylor’s values are. She’s made them very clear to us.”
The group has over 72,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter) and over 48,000 on Instagram.
A spokesperson for Swift did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
A Harris campaign spokesperson said the group is not affiliated with the campaign and declined to comment.
Swift had shied away from making political statements throughout her career — until the release of her documentary “Miss Americana” in 2020. The film featured Swift’s behind-the-scenes fight to publicly denounce Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., then a member of the House, whom she described as “Trump in a wig.” The clip was filmed ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, when Swift endorsed Blackburn’s Senate opponent, Democrat Phil Bredesen, and then-Rep. Jim Cooper’s re-election campaign.
Although Blackburn won, Swift’s post on Instagram encouraging people to register to vote resulted in a surge of voter registrations, especially among young people, Vote.org said at the time.
During Tuesday’s call, Kim welcomed attendees by telling them, “It’s been waiting for you,” a nod to Swift’s song “Welcome to New York.” Another co-founder of the organization, Emerald Medrano, 22, showed off his “Swifties for Kamala” merch: a T-shirt with an image of a friendship bracelet that read, “In my voting era.”
Speakers on the call, many of whom made references to Swift's lyrics, praised attendees for getting involved.
“What I love best about Swifties — you are resilient, and you know how to take on bullies and you know how to be your most authentic, most joyful selves,” Warren said. “You’ve come together, hand in hand, friendship bracelets on your wrist, and you’ve overcome pretty much anything life throws at you. And that’s what the Kamala Harris campaign is all about.”
Many brought up the term “single cat ladies,” a reference to Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance’s statement about “childless cat ladies” running the country.
Swift has identified as a “cat lady” and owns several cats.Vance said Sunday on NBC News' "Meet the Press" that his resurfaced comment from 2021 is “not at the top 10” on his list of regrets and that "a lot of people took it the wrong way."
Gillibrand said on the call: “I think it’s important that we, as single cat ladies, as independent women, as women who know every lyric that Taylor Swift has ever written, that we are part of this campaign and part of this election.”
King, whom Swift inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021, also gave a short a cappella performance of the chorus of “Shake it Off,” from Swift’s album “1989.” She encouraged Swifties to further support Harris’ campaign by volunteering.
“I’ve been a political activist for years. I’ve been a volunteer, I’ve been a door knocker, even as a famous person,” said King, who described herself as a friend of Swift's. “I’m telling you all this because if any of you are thinking of volunteering to be door knockers or phone callers but you’re a little nervous about what you might say, please believe me: There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
Kim said “Swifties for Kamala” was inspired by Jotaka Eaddy, the founder of the grassroots group Win With Black Women, who held a fundraiser for Harris shortly after Biden endorsed her. Eaddy’s group raised $1.5 million in three hours, it said on X last month.
Other organizations — including “White Dudes for Harris,” “Dead Heads for Harris,” “Cat Ladies for Kamala” and “Hackers for Harris”— have held similar events to raise money after Biden announced he would not seek re-election last month.
