Taylor Swift could heavily influence the way that Americans vote in the presidential election – with a fifth of voters saying they’re ‘likely’ to back a candidate she endorses.
The popstar’s stratospheric influence on popular culture may sway the race to the White House, especially as new Gen Z voters join the electorate this year.
In a poll conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for Newsweek, 18 percent of voters say they’re ‘more likely’ or ‘significantly more likely’ to vote for a candidate endorsed by Taylor Swift.
Her sway was more visible with voters under the age of 35.
This election will see 8 million new voters in the US electorate – and a total of 41 million Gen Z voters, many of whom are influenced by celebrities and social media.
The popstar’s stratospheric influence on popular culture may sway the race to the White House, especially as new Gen Z voters join the electorate this year
However, 17 percent said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate backed by Swift – which could bode badly for Democrat Joe Biden.
Although she has never publicly said who she votes for, in 2020 Swift vowed to kick Trump out of the White House with her vote.
A total of 55 percent said that they were neutral and wouldn’t be swayed either way.
The data comes from a sample size of 1,500 people – 45 percent of which said they liked Taylor, with 54 percent saying they were not fans.
Six percent said they’d never heard of the Shake It Off billionaire singer.
Her popularity over the last 12 months has reached new highs. She was named Time magazine’s 2023 ‘Person of the Year,’ led the immensely-successful Eras tour that raked in over a billion dollars, and bloomed in her relationship with Travis Kelce.
Communications consultant James Haggerty said: ‘She’s influenced popular culture, sports, the economics of entire regions of the U.S.’
‘Swift is in the class by herself. She’s so talented and so popular and so ingrained in pop culture. No one is close to her.
‘Celebrity power in elections has grown because celebrity power itself has grown. And in a world awash in messages, it’s the celebrity voices that really resonate.
The Shake It Off singer took to social media to condemn Donald Trump for his remarks over the violence that erupted after the police-related shooting death of George Floyd in Minneapolis
However, 17 percent said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate backed by Swift – which could bode badly for Democrat Joe Biden.
‘In a world where a reality show star can become president—and maybe become president twice—all of this makes perfect sense.’
Taylor Swift, who often keeps her politics to herself, has previously criticized Republican Donald Trump – and vowed to ‘vote him out’ of the White House.
She accused then-President Trump of ‘stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism’ his entire presidency in 2020.
The Shake It Off singer took to social media to condemn Trump for his remarks over the violence that erupted after the police-related shooting death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
‘After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence?
‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’??? We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump,’ wrote Swift in the tweet.
In recent months, Trump has also snapped back at the popstar.
Trump has weighed in on the romance of Taylor and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and made his own predictions of the tryst.
The Republican candidate frontrunner congratulated the pair, but quickly predicted they may not last.
‘I wish the best for both of them. I hope they enjoy their life, maybe together, maybe not — most likely not,’ Trump said in a candid response during an interview with the Daily Caller.
It came after the Washington Post published an opinion piece, saying: ‘If anyone should be worried about Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce, it’s Trump.
‘These two have fan bases that are huge and devoted. Just from Swift attending that single Chiefs game, Kelce’s merchandise sales jumped 400 percent,’ columnist Rick Reilly wrote.
In one Instagram story, Swift urged her fans to exercise their democratic right to register and vote.
Her followers appeared to heed her advice with the number of users logging onto Vote.org skyrocketing 1,226 percent in the course of an hour, Reilly noted.
He explained how Swift had a massive 450 million followers on X while Kelce also had a significant fanbase although ‘only 5 million.’
Reilly posed the question: ‘What if they decided a fun couples thing to do would be to … I don’t know … save democracy?’
The op-ed suggests that their diverse fanbase, many of whom could be potential Trump voters, the former U.S. President should give their relationship more thought.