Taylor Swift's endorsement of Harris sends more than 400,000 visitors to Vote.gov

Taylor Swift’s Instagram post endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris immediately after Tuesday night’s debate has inspired more than 405,000 visitors to visit Vote.gov.

“I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them,” Swift said. “Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story.”

As of Wednesday evening, a custom URL shared by Swift on her Instagram story that expired after 24 hours had directed 405,999 visitors to vote.gov , according to a spokesperson from the General Services Administration (GSA) speaking to USA TODAY on Thursday.

By comparison, in the week leading up to the debate, from Sep 3-9, 2024, vote.gov received about 30,000 visitors a day.

Swift’s “Get Out the Vote” announcement on MTV’s 2024 Video Music Awards on Wednesday evening may have also contributed to the numbers.

“If you are over 18, please register to vote for something else that’s very important coming up,” the 30-time VMA winner said while accepting the “Video of the Year” award.

Vote.gov is not a voter registration website but directs users to state election websites with state-specific voting information. It was unclear how many of the over 400,000 visitors successfully registered to vote.

Data from Google Trends also showed a surge in interest in voter registration after Swift’s endorsement, which garnered more than 10 million likes on Instagram.

Swift’s political past and recent controversies

Swift’s endorsement was highly anticipated , even leading to speculation that she would appear at the Democratic National Convention as a surprise guest . She endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020, and her previous posts have also inspired surges in voter registration.

With millions of followers, Swift’s endorsement has been coveted on both sides of the political aisle. Back in August, Trump posted artificial intelligence-generated images of Swift on his Truth Social platform in support of his campaign, to the chagrin of Swift and many of her fans. After the debate, the singer endorsed Harris, saying: “... I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.”

Most recently, Swift faced backlash for hugging Brittany Mahomes, a businesswoman, and wife to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes , who had seemingly liked an Instagram post by Trump. Patrick Mahomes is a close friend and teammate of Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce , and is also active in voter registration.

On Wednesday, Trump dismissed Swift’s endorsement of Harris, saying he “was not a Taylor fan.”

“It was just a question of time,” Trump told Fox News in an interview. “She’s a very liberal person. She seems to always endorse a Democrat. And she’ll probably pay a price for it ... in the marketplace.”

A request for a comment sent to Swift’s publicist via email did not receive a response.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Taylor Swift's endorsement of Harris sends more than 400,000 visitors to Vote.gov