Democrats Lean Into Taylor Swift at DNC

With a potential endorsement from Taylor Swift potentially still in play, Democrats have leaned into the fandom surrounding the global superstar throughout this week’s Democratic National Convention (DNC).
It’s unclear if Swift, who endorsed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2020 election, is tuning in to the convention in Chicago. But her name has come up on several occasions. During night one, Mississippi delegate Kelly Jacobs was seen wearing a big, blue hat that read “Swiftie” on the convention floor, along with a poncho that featured a photo of Swift with the words, “Make a blue wave.”
On night two, while Democrats held a ceremonial state roll call that confirmed Harris as the party’s 2024 nominee, Rhode Island’s delegation cast their votes while the tune of Swift’s 2014 hit “Shake It Off” played over the speakers. Colorado Governor Jared Polis referenced the pop singer while addressing night three of the DNC Wednesday, including by introducing himself as a “Swiftie” and singing a bit of Swift’s 2021 song, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”
“They [Republicans] want to take us backwards, but we aren’t going back like ever, ever, ever,” Polis said to a cheering crowd after he called former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, “weird” and “dangerous.”
House Minority Leader Jeffries also threw in a reference to Swift while attacking Trump on stage Wednesday, referring to the former president as “an old boyfriend who you broke up with but he just won’t go away.
“Bro, we broke up with you for a reason,” Jeffries said. “Donald Trump can spin the block all he wants, but there is no reason for us to ever get back together. Been there, done that, we’re not going back.”
Newsweek reached out to a representative for Swift Wednesday night.
Swift’s potential to hold influence over the 2024 election is undeniable. After urging her then-272 million followers on Instagram to register to vote in September 2023, more than 35,000 signed up on Vote.org. She again encouraged her fans to vote on Super Tuesday this past spring, writing in an Instagram post, “I wanted to remind you guys to vote the people who most represent YOU into power.”
And the star has not been quiet in the past about her disdain for the former president. In May 2020, after Trump suggested that police brutality protestors in Minneapolis could be shot, Swift accused him of “stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency in a post to her Twitter (now X) account, where she currently has 95.2 million followers.
With 76 days left in the election, however, Swift has yet to back a candidate for 2024. Her endorsement for Biden/Harris during the last presidential election was posted on October 7, 2020, the same day that Harris faced former Vice President Mike Pence for a debate in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Some Republican fans of Swift have also attempted to use the star’s name to garner momentum before November. Earlier this week, Trump shared a series of images to his Truth Social account from a group called “Swifties for Trump,” writing along with the post, “I accept!”
Many of the photos from the group, however, appeared to be generated using artificial intelligence, sparking anger from other fans. Some legal analysts believe that the images could be grounds for Swift to sue Trump over a “false endorsement.”