Look what she made them do.
Taylor Swift's endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris shortly after Tuesday night's debate between the Democratic candidates and former President Donald Trump caused a surge in traffic to vote.gov. CNN reported:.
A spokesperson for the federal agency that oversees voter registration websites told CNN that as of Wednesday afternoon, 337,826 people had visited vote.gov by clicking on a custom URL that Swift shared on Instagram after endorsing Harris.
It was not immediately clear how many of the website visitors registered to vote.
In her endorsement, Swift, 34, said she was voting for Harris because “she is fighting for rights and causes that I believe we need warriors to defend.”
The megastar added that first-time voters should register, and that he would post links to registration locations and early voting dates on his Instagram story.
Vote.gov, the federal government's voter registration site run by the General Services Administration, directs voters to their states and territories to complete their voter registration.
Federal government websites also saw an uptick in interest surrounding the debate, with a Vote.org spokesperson telling CNN that the number of voters on the website increased by 585% between 9 p.m. and midnight.
Voter interest likely increased during the debate, but Vote.org CEO Andrea Haley believes part of the reason is the “Anti-Hero” singer and her influence on Swifties.
“Taylor Swift's impact on voter engagement is undeniable,” Haley said in a statement to CNN.
The pop star, who just finished her European Hellas tour, said she did her “research” for the songs she chose, and urged Swifties to do the same.
The “Cruel Summer” singer said she was inspired to come forward as a presidential candidate after artificial intelligence created a fake image of her endorsing a Republican candidate.
“I've come to the conclusion that as a voter, I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election. The easiest way to combat misinformation is to tell the truth.”
While Swift explained her reasons for voting for Harris, she did not directly tell her fans to support the vice president – instead, she said she had done her “research” in choosing Harris and urged her fans to do the same.
“If you haven't done so already, now is a great time to find out where candidates stand on the issues at hand and the topics that matter most to you,” she said.
“As a voter, I try to watch and read everything I can about the policies and plans they propose for the country.”
The endorsement also included a photo of Swift holding her cat, Benjamin Button, who was featured in Time magazine's “Person of the Year” issue in December.
The choice of photo is believed to be a response to comments made by 2021 Republican vice presidential nominee Senator J.D. Vance, in which he called Democratic women “childless catwomen who are miserable in their lives.”
Trump has denied Swift's endorsement, saying on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday that he prefers Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, much better.
“The truth is, I like Mrs. Mahomes a lot more. She's a big Trump fan,” the Republican candidate said when asked about Swift's endorsement.
Brittany Mahomes recently made headlines after liking an Instagram post outlining President Trump's “2024 Republican Policy Platform.”
She later slammed “my haters” after her like sparked widespread backlash from people who perceived it as support for Trump.
