Biden Campaign Reportedly Desperate For Taylor Swift’s Support
President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is reportedly desperate for an endorsement from popstar Taylor Swift, as the New York Times has described her as the campaign’s top “target” for support.
Swift has essentially the most die-hard fanbase of any celebrity, which has led Democrats to believe that her endorsement will bring a significant number of voters to the ballot box. However, a recent poll showed that her potential political influence is negligible.
In a Newsweek survey of 1,500 voters released on Sunday, 18% of respondents stated that an endorsement from Swift would make them “more likely,” to varying degrees, to support a candidate. Slightly fewer respondents, 17%, reported feeling less likely to vote for a candidate that the pop star endorses. The poll’s results indicate that Swift’s support for a candidate would essentially not make a difference, as the number of people swayed by her endorsement is virtually the same as the number of people turned off by her endorsement.
This idea is further addressed in a March 2023 Morning Consult poll, which showed that “55% of avid Swift fans are Democrats,” as Business Insider explained. “The remainder of the fans are equally split among identifying as Republicans and independents.” Thus, her endorsement of a Democrat like Biden would have no effect on a significant portion of her supporters.
The endorsement may not even sway many of her young supporters who identify as Democrats — as some commentators have pointed out that there is a significant portion of young Democrat voters who oppose Biden over his minor support for Israel.
Despite the data, a New York Times report published on Monday indicates that the Biden campaign is desperate to enlist celebrities like Swift, as well as social media stars, to endorse the president’s re-election efforts.
“The campaign has begun discussions with celebrities and social media stars about promoting Mr. Biden on Instagram and TikTok,” the outlet reported. “When Mr. Biden took a fund-raising swing through Southern California in December, the campaign carved out time to meet with influencers to pitch them on posting pro-Biden content.”
“The biggest and most influential endorsement target is Ms. Swift, 34, the pop sensation and N.F.L. enthusiast, who can move millions of supporters with an Instagram post or a mid-concert aside,” the New York Times report continued. “She endorsed Mr. Biden in 2020 and, last year, a single Instagram post of hers led to 35,000 new voter registrations. Fund-raising appeals from Ms. Swift could be worth millions of dollars for Mr. Biden.”
The article also declared that support from Swift would be “the endorsement of [the Biden campaign’s] wildest dreams” — with the New York Times reporting that Biden may even go so far as to attend Swift’s concerts to garner support.
Meanwhile, some recent news has led commentators to suspect that Swift may not be so keen to endorse a Democrat in this election cycle. The soft-on-crime policies in New York City have led one of the popstar’s stalkers to be repeatedly released after being arrested outside of her home. The stalker, David Crowe, was reportedly arrested three times in five days outside of her apartment and was even seen digging through her trash.
The Daily Wire commentator Brett Cooper pointed to Swift’s fanbase becoming outraged on social media about the popstar’s stalker being repeatedly released from jail, noting that they have been condemning New York City’s soft-on-crime policies in response to the news. Cooper argued in a YouTube video on the subject that this stalker may be the catalyst for Swift and her fans to turn away from the Democrats — meaning that the endorsement that the Biden campaign is aiming for may not happen.
