US voter registration searches surge after Taylor Swift endorses Harris

The pop star’s support was expected — but the timing and words were particularly helpful for Vice President Kamala Harris.

There weren’t many factors that could have distracted the political world from Vice President Kamala Harris’s impressive performance against Donald Trump in Tuesday night’s debate. But at 11 p.m., Taylor Swift did.

Her endorsement of the Democratic nominee came as no surprise, as she had previously endorsed Joe Biden in 2020 and other Democrats in the past. In fact, it was so expected that many were surprised when rumors of her appearing at the Democratic convention failed to materialize. But “not surprising” doesn’t mean “without impact.” And, at least in the immediate term, her endorsement had an effect.

As in the past, Swift’s endorsement was cautious. In an Instagram post, she encouraged her 283 million followers to check out the candidates for themselves. However, she also explained her reasons for supporting Harris, ending the message with a playful description of herself as a “childless cat lady.”

Her most compelling message was one she had shared before: the need for her followers to register to vote. Google data suggests that this call to action had an effect, correlating with a spike in searches for how to register.

The biggest spike in interest occurred during the debate, just as Trump was being questioned about his role in the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Search interest declined as the debate drew to a close, but picked up again once Swift’s endorsement was announced.

How do we know this is related to Swift? We can’t say for sure, but the spike coincided with a big spike in searches for the artist herself. Google data also shows that the top related search was “Taylor Swift voter registration.”

It’s important to note that the graph shown is not to scale; it simply illustrates the peaks in interest in both terms over the three hours shown. If we were to compare interest in searches for Swift and voter registration, there would be no competition.

In August, as a group of pro-Harris fans geared up, we looked at how the pop megastar was better positioned to make a political impact now than in previous election cycles. For one thing, she’s much more famous today. Plus, her young fan base has grown older — many, if not most, are now eligible to vote. And as we mentioned, Swift is viewed more positively now than she was in 2018, when she endorsed a Democratic Senate candidate, even among Republicans.

Trump, who was already having a bad night when Swift’s endorsement arrived, is trying to make the best of the situation. On Wednesday morning, he called into “Fox & Friends,” the Fox News show where he used to be a weekly contributor. The hosts asked Trump about his reaction to Swift’s move; he somewhat randomly said that he preferred the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

He also made a prediction: Swift would “probably pay a price for it in the marketplace.” It’s possible, of course. There’s also the possibility that Swift’s endorsement could result in a price being paid by Trump on Election Day.

With information from The Post