Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz learned on live television that he and Vice President Kamala Harris had scored Taylor Swift’s endorsement, during his post-debate interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.
Harris was in Philadelphia to debate former President Donald Trump on ABC News, and Swift issued the endorsement, umm, swiftly thereafter in an Instagram post, telling her 283 million-plus followers that Trump’s use of a false, AI-generated image of her to claim she was endorsing him “really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation,” and led her to conclude “that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter.”
Swift posted the endorsement with a photo of herself holding Benjamin Button, one of her three cats, and signed it “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady” — referring to the controversial comments by Trump’s running mate Sen. JD Vance (R-OH).
Maddow was interviewing Walz about how he thought the debate went and how he was preparing for his upcoming matchup with Vance, when the Swift endorsement news broke.
“Governor Walz, I want to ask about the debate with JD Vance coming up, but while we have been talking somebody handed me something,” said Maddow.
“I am going to read it to you in totality,” she continued. “I will read you the whole thing because I don’t think you know about this. This was posted online by a woman you might have heard of, whose name is Taylor Swift. I’m going to read to you what she just posted.”
Maddow then read Swift’s endorsement to Walz, who put his hand over his heart and grinned at the part where she wrote that she was voting for him and Harris.
“With love and hope, Taylor Swift. Signed, Childless Cat Lady,” Maddow finished reading. “I have to get your response to that, Mr. Governor.”
“Wow!” said Walz. “All of those things – I am incredibly grateful, first of all, to Taylor Swift – I say that also as a cat owner, a fellow cat owner.”
“That was eloquent. And it was clear. And that’s the type of courage we need in America, to stand up,” he continued, saying it reminded him of the Republicans who spoke at the DNC to endorse Harris, or the women who nearly died because they could not get abortion services.
“This will be the opportunity, Swifties! Kamala Harris dot com,” he concluded, directing viewers to the campaign website as Maddow laughed. “Get on over there, give us a hand, get things going!”
At the time this article was being written, Swift’s Instagram post had over 4.3 million likes and screenshots have been widely shared on other social media platforms.
Watch the clip above via MSNBC.
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Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law & Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on the BBC, MSNBC, NewsNation, Fox 35 Orlando, Fox 7 Austin, The Young Turks, The Dean Obeidallah Show, and other television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe.
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