Poll Of 500 Swifties Shows That Her Endorsement Of Kamala Harris Might Not Be As Effective As You Think
Her fans aren't as liberal as one might assume, if this poll is any indication.
Brian Friedman | lev radin | Shutterstock | Canva Pro It was the moment politics-watchers were all waiting for: Taylor Swift's ringing endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz.
Given Swift's influence, many expect her endorsement to be a political kingmaker — or queenmaker, as it were. But a new batch of data reveals the impact could be a lot more complicated.
A poll of 500 Swifties reveals that Taylor Swift's Kamala Harris endorsement may not be as effective as assumed.
Taylor Swift is probably the only person on Earth who'd be able to eclipse the utterly insane first presidential debate, in which Kamala Harris and Donald Trump sparred over truly bizarre topics like Haitian immigrants supposedly eating all the dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio (a lie) and Democrats doing "transgender operations on illegal aliens in prison" (also a lie).
But boy, did she, at least among pop culture fans.
Many of Swift's more liberal fans have become increasingly impatient with her silence about the election, even amid Donald Trump's misbegotten attempt to leverage AI-generated images of the singer appearing to endorse him.
Her recent photo op with Trump-voting Brittany Mahomes while watching boyfriend Travis Kelce's recent Kansas City Chiefs game did little to quell the consternation.
However, from the moment Swift's endorsement appeared on Instagram, mere moments after the conclusion of the debate, its impact has been breathlessly speculated about in the media and online.
Her influence is undeniable. She is almost certainly the most famous woman in the world at the moment, and her Instagram post about Harris-Walz landed in the feeds of 284 million people who follow her on the app, along with untold millions on other platforms.
Her cult-like following includes a key demographic Democrats have steadily lost their hold on and which has tended to handily tip elections for right-wing Republican candidates in recent decades: white women, who were key to the victory of Donald Trump in 2016.
But anyone who thinks Swift's pull with this demo might be exactly what the kryptonite Kamala Harris needs might want to put a pin in that for a moment because the data shows it might not have anywhere near the impact people expect.
More than a third of Swifties plan to vote for Trump, and nearly all of them said they don't care about Swift's endorsement.
Los Angeles PR firm Prodege decided to dig into the political affiliations of Swifties and how Swift's endorsement might impact their voting habits. It's important to note that Prodege conducted their poll of 500 fans in August 2024, weeks before Swift's endorsement landed.
Still, their findings will be surprising to many — though, frankly, not to anyone who's "chronically online" and interacts with her fandom on social media with any frequency, where right-wing politics and often virulent bigotry thrives (don't ask me how I know.)
Of those surveyed, 53% of Swifties said immigrants arriving outside of official channels, a large number of whom are refugees or asylum seekers, should be detained, and 41% said they should be immediately deported.
And perhaps most telling of all, a staggering number of Swifties polled said they didn't care about Swift's candidate endorsement — 95% told Prodege that her endorsement will have no impact on their vote.
Prodege's data showed that 34% of Swift's fandom are supporters of Donald Trump and share his views on some key issues, notably his frequently xenophobic rhetoric on immigration.
Still, the majority of Swifties plan to follow her lead and vote for Harris, and issues dear to Swift are among their top priorities.
That Swift's fandom encompasses a large number of right-wing, conservative voters certainly seems to be indisputable. But, as with the United States in general, they are far from the majority or even the plurality of Swifties.
Prodege found that 52% of the Swift fans they polled plan to vote for Kamala Harris, and another 14% were undecided. It's likely that section of the Swiftie pie that will be most influenced by her endorsement, and they'd create a two-thirds majority of fans if they all followed her lead (though this is, of course, unlikely).
Prodege also found that 65% of Swifties agree with Swift on the subject of reproductive rights and a woman's right to choose — though perhaps it is not their #1 priority in this election. The economy and inflation ranked 4-to-1 as Swifties' top concern.
All that said, the sample in this type of poll is unlikely to have the kind of granular representation of the wider population that actual political polling has, so it remains to be seen what impact Swift's endorsement will have.
But Swift's clever timing, use of right-wing buzzphrases like "do your own research" in her endorsement, and friendship with Trump supporter Mahomes is sure to resonate with many people in the key demographics that have frequently tilted elections rightward in the 21st century.
Perhaps she'll get them to "speak now" at the polls in a way that changes the game.
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.