American pop megastar Taylor Swift has yet to take a position on the US presidential election, but a group of her fans, calling themselves the "Swiftita for Kamala (Harris)" attracts tens of thousands of supporters, including some stars, as well as funds for the election campaign of the candidate for the presidency of the Democratic Party of the USA.
Less than 24 hours after the video conference of the beginning of the group "Swiftita for Kamala" says she has raised more than $140,000 in donations for the Democrat. The group's goal is to turn the power of the Swiftites (as Taylor Swift fans are called) into political power.
Since President Joe Biden withdrew from the race for the White House on July 21, support groups for the new Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris have multiplied. But among these groups, that of "Swiftita for Kamala" stands out the most.
During the band's launch party, singer and actress Carole King encouraged her fans to campaign in support of Harris. Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand gave similar encouragement.
"I'm Swifty, Taylor and I are friends, and I'd like to say to those of you who plan to be campaigners, go door-to-door, call voters, but who are still worried about what they might say to them, so to those people I would like to say: Trust me, you have nothing to lose, only to gain," said Carole King, known for her songs "I Feel The Earth Move" and "You've Got A Friend".
"The Swifts are the leaders who will help us win this election," U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat, added during the video conference.
With her status as a global star and with fans who ardently defend her on social media, if Taylor Swift, who has 284 million followers on "Instagram", were to take a position on the campaign trail, that position would be taken by a large part her millions of fans. But the singer, chosen as the person of the year by the magazine "Time" at the end of 2023, is known for refraining from meddling in politics.
In 2016, Swift remained silent during the presidential election, which was won by then-Republican Donald Trump. In the elections in her home state of Tennessee two years later, she supported Democratic candidates opposing the deeply conservative Republican Marsha Blackburn.
Taylor Swift then endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Later, messages to the LGBT community appeared in her songs. Finally, she also condemned the decision of the Supreme Court, dominated by conservative justices, to invalidate the guarantee of abortion rights at the federal level in the United States.
Perceived today as leaning Democratic, Swift is regularly the target of conspiracy theories from the far right and Trump supporters.
Created by Emerald Medrano, who is a fan of Taylor Swift, the band "Swiftita for Kamala" has 72,000 subscribers in "X" and nearly 50,000 followers on "Instagram". The group says it is not necessarily seeking Taylor Swift's support for its campaign to support Kamala Harris' presidential bid.
On her website "Swiftita for Kamala" they say they also fight to protect the rights of the LGBT community and reproductive rights, that they support migrants, that they take climate change seriously, and that they want a permanent cease-fire between Israel and "Hamas".
Translation from French: Gabriela Golemanska, BTA