Taylor Swift sent Donald Trump into one of his Truth Social meltdowns after she endorsed Kamala Harris on the night of Sept. 10, 2024, immediately following the Democratic presidential candidate’s commanding performance over the GOP contender at their one and only debate.
But that’s as far as Swift would go in lending her global fame and influence to Harris’ campaign, unlike other A-listers. Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Oprah Winfrey or Bruce Springsteen were all eager to participate in the campaign’s efforts to enlist as many celebrities as possible to give speeches or to entertain on behalf of the former vice president.
A new book looks at why Harris’ staff failed to get Swift to show up on the 2024 campaign trail, despite weeks of rumors and speculation that she would make an appearance, even on the eve of the election.
The authors, journalists Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf, said that staffers who worked on celebrity appearances “were instructed not to make any outreach” to Swift. Instead, that job would be left to Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff. He was put in charge of the Swift outreach because he had an “in” in the pop singer’s team.
“Before Harris became vice president, Emhoff had had a lucrative career as an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles,” the authors wrote, according to the Daily Mail. “He and Swift’s lawyer, Doug Baldridge, were both partners at the firm Venable.”
Emhoff reached out to Baldridge to “convey that the campaign would appreciate any efforts the pop star could make to help Harris,” the authors wrote. But then came a “brutal,” seven-word reply, which would turn out to be a rejection, the Daily Mail said.
“Swift would do what Swift thought best,” Baldridge said.
Up to that point, the Harris campaign had reason to hope that Swift would do more. Following Harris’ debate performance, the singer surprised the campaign “with a full-throated endorsement posted on her Instagram,” the authors wrote. She memorably shared a photo of her with one of her three cats and signed it “Childless Cat Lady,” a dig at resurfaced 2021 comments made by J.D. Vance about Democrats and “miserable” “childless cat ladies.”
In her endorsement, Swift said she would vote for Harris and running mate Tim Walz because the former California senator and San Francisco district attorney “fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.” The mega-star also praised Harris as “a steady-handed, gifted leader” who would lead “with calm and not chaos.”
The Swift endorsement helped boost an already “electric” mood in the Harris campaign after the debate, the authors reported.
“Harris asked if she should mention the endorsement when she spoke to supporters at a watch party,” the authors wrote. But staffers told her that “would sound too thirsty,” though they agreed to change her walk-off song at the event to Swift’s “The Man.”
Days after Swift’s endorsement, Trump fumed on his Truth Social platform, declaring in all-caps, “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”
Ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August and the November election, this new book and others have reported that the Harris campaign “dedicated huge resources” to massive rallies with celebrity guests. After Joe Biden dropped out of the race and Harris became the Democratic candidate, the Oakland-reared former prosecutor began packing in crowds at rallies and dominating news cycles, including the celebrity/entertainment media. She was hailed as a “rock star” and “the coolest thing pop culture” as she fought Trump, another celebrity from his days as a reality TV star and a New York City tabloid figure.
Authors Dawsey, Pager and Arnsdorf wrote: “Harris and Walz said they were bringing joy back to politics, and massive celebrity-filled rallies — Meghan Thee Stallion performed in Atlanta, Maggie Rogers in Ann Arbor, Gracie Abrams and Mumford & Sons in Madison, Wisconsin — were key to that strategy.”
Beyonce, who had been rumored to appear alongside Harris at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, finally joined the candidate at an abortion rights rally in her hometown of Houston, Texas in October.
“But privately, some campaign staff raised concerns that the major rallies may not be worth the millions of dollars they cost to stage or the staff investment,” the authors wrote. “There was scant evidence that the rallies were persuading voters or necessarily boosting turnout.”
There also were concerns about some of the celebrity assignments, according to the book. For example, the campaign sent Springsteen, whose fans are predominantly white, to Clarkston, Georgia, where the city’s population is 70% black and 50% foreign-born. “The predominantly white press corps seemed more interested in Springsteen’s performance than the 23,000 mostly black attendees,’ the authors said.
In the final hours before Election Day, there was some belief that Swift might finally make an appearance, according to the book. Harris was headed to Pennsylvania for some events and a final rally in Philadelphia, and “low-level Harris aides did nothing to tamp down the speculation” that Swift would join Harris there, in her home state. Instead, Lady Gaga was the main act for the final event, the book said.
It’s well-known that Swift has carefully curated her political activism, just as she curates her public image. She appears eager to limit her political statements to those which she believes will have maximum impact, usually non-partisan statements that encourage voter registration efforts. She first endorsed candidates in the 2018 election cycle, lending her support to Democrats running in races in Tennessee, her home state at the time. She endorsed Joe Biden on social media in 2020, then Harris in 2024.
Following Trump’s stunning and decisive victory on Nov. 5, Harris’ celebrity supporters were left to articulate their grief and disbelief — or, like Swift, they stayed silent. As political pundits and cultural commentators said at the time, they were perhaps numbed by the realization that 77 million Americans — or close to 50% of voters — didn’t just reject their chosen candidate but helped to repudiate a belief in celebrities’ power to influence culture, politics and people’s voting choices.