When Taylor Swift released her self-titled debut album in 2006 at 16 years old, she wowed fans and critics with her honest, diaristic lyrics. Swift wrote about her crushes, heartbreaks, and high school dramas, sometimes using real names; very few details were left to the imagination. But for many years, the country darling-turned-pop star kept one thing private: her political leanings.
Early in her career, Swift was both criticized and praised for staying out of politics. In 2012, “Late Show” host David Letterman gave Swift a proud fist bump after she explained her reluctant mindset: “I feel like, at 22, it’s my right to vote, but it’s not my right to tell other people what to do,” Swift said.
Swift finally broke her silence in 2018, shortly after she wrapped the US leg of the Reputation Stadium Tour.
“I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country,” she wrote on Instagram, endorsing Democratic candidates in her home state of Tennessee.
In the years since, Swift’s political statements have been sparing, yet powerful. Though she’s yet to address the 2024 presidential election, her endorsement could have major consequences; she’s had a demonstrable impact on voter registration in the past. In fact, a large chunk of Swifties have already rallied around Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz.
Keep reading for a complete timeline of Swift’s political journey so far.
Susie Heller contributed to a previous version of this post.
Swift said she voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.
During a 2009 interview with Rolling Stone, Swift said she supported the current president, Barack Obama.
“I’ve never seen this country so happy about a political decision in my entire time of being alive,” she said of the 2008 election. “I’m so glad this was my first election.”
However, Rolling Stone reporter Vanessa Grigoriadis noted that 18-year-old Swift was “constantly worried” about saying something that might offend her fans and extremely hesitant to answer any questions about politics.
Ahead of the 2012 election, Swift declined to comment on politics.
During an interview with Time to promote her 2012 album “Red,” Swift dodged questions about the upcoming presidential election.
Swift said she’d been following the race between President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney, but she felt uncomfortable trying to influence her fans.
“I try to keep myself as educated and informed as possible. But I don’t talk about politics because it might influence other people,” Swift said. “And I don’t think that I know enough yet in life to be telling people who to vote for.”
That same year, during another interview with a Norwegian journalist, Swift reiterated her reluctance to endorse politicians.
“I just figure, I’m a 22-year-old singer and I don’t know if people really want to hear my political views,” Swift said. “I think they just kind of want to hear me sing songs about breakups and feelings.”
(Years later, Swift confirmed she voted for Obama in 2012.)
Swift began publicly identifying as a feminist in 2014.
In a 2014 interview with The Guardian, Swift said that she identifies as a feminist after years of skirting around the word.
“As a teenager, I didn’t understand that saying you’re a feminist is just saying that you hope women and men will have equal rights and equal opportunities,” Swift explained. “What it seemed to me, the way it was phrased in culture, society, was that you hate men. And now, I think a lot of girls have had a feminist awakening because they understand what the word means. For so long it’s been made to seem like something where you’d picket against the opposite sex, whereas it’s not about that at all.”
Swift said that befriending “Girls” creator Lena Dunham helped shape her newfound understanding of feminism.
“Becoming friends with Lena — without her preaching to me, but just seeing why she believes what she believes, why she says what she says, why she stands for what she stands for — has made me realize that I’ve been taking a feminist stance without actually saying so,” Swift said.
Ahead of the 2016 election, Trump supporters popularized a conspiracy theory that Swift was secretly conservative.
Spurred by her silence during the 2016 election season, white supremacists online began to worship Swift.
“Firstly, Taylor Swift is a pure Aryan goddess, like something out of classical Greek poetry. Athena reborn. That’s the most important thing,” Andre Anglin wrote on the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website, per Vice.
Anglin claimed that Swift was “secretly a Nazi” and waiting for Donald Trump to become president before showing her true colors. He also said Swift would get married to one of Trump’s sons so they could be “crowned American royalty.”
In May 2016, far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos wrote an article for Breitbart titled “Taylor Swift is an alt-right pop icon.”
Yiannopoulos claimed that Swift had “red-pilled” her fan base and the music industry at large, meaning that she’d concealed her supposed right-wing beliefs. As proof, he cited her appearance (white, blonde, blue-eyed), her rural background (Swift grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania before moving to Nashville), and her reluctance to speak openly about politics or religion.
After Swift disclosed her liberal political leanings in 2018, 4Chan users who supported the baseless conspiracy theory called Swift a “traitor.”
Swift never endorsed a presidential candidate in 2016, but she did vote.
Swift’s only acknowledgment of the presidential election in 2016 came on November 8, when she shared a photo of herself in line to vote.
“Today is the day,” she captioned the since-deleted Instagram post. “Go out and VOTE.” (The post was lost in the social media cleanse that preceded her album “Reputation.”)
Because Swift never said who to vote for, fans naturally began hunting for clues and Easter eggs. For example, Rebecca Jennings wrote for Racked that Swift’s cold-shoulder sweater was a coded endorsement of Hillary Clinton.
Swift tweeted her support for the 2017 Women’s March on Washington.
The first annual Women’s March on Washington drew a large crowd of A-listers, including Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, and Madonna.
Swift was criticized on social media for her absence, though she did tweet in support of the movement.
“So much love, pride, and respect for those who marched,” Swift wrote in the since-deleted post. “I’m proud to be a woman today, and every day. #WomensMarch.”
In late 2017, Swift was criticized by the ACLU for threatening legal action against a blogger.
In November 2017, the ACLU of Northern California issued a letter to Swift and her legal team, condemning their attempt to silence a blogger who criticized Swift’s refusal to disavow neo-Nazis.
Two months prior, Popfront executive editor Meghan Herning had published a scathing review of Swift’s new comeback single “Look What You Made Me Do.”
The song was reportedly inspired by Swift’s reignited feud with Ye (then known as Kanye West), her infamous phone call with Kim Kardashian, and the subsequent damage to Swift’s reputation. However, Herning argued that Swift included “dog whistles to white supremacy” in the song’s lyrics and music video, citing lyrics like, “I don’t like your kingdom keys / They once belonged to me / You asked me for a place to sleep / Locked me out and threw a feast.”
“These lyrics are the most explicit in speaking to white anger and affirming white supremacy,” Herning wrote. “The lyrics speak to the white people resentful of any non-white person having a position of power and privilege.”
Swift and her attorney promptly sent Herning a letter, calling the post defamatory and demanding a retraction.
“The notion that Ms. Swift supports white supremacy is utterly fabricated and a reprehensible falsehood, and it attempts to portray Ms. Swift in a false light,” the letter said.
“Swift has no obligation to campaign for any particular political candidate or broadcast her political views, and the fact that her political views are not public enough for your taste does not give you the authority to presume what her political opinions may be or that her political views correlate to the support of white supremacy,” the letter continued.
Although Swift’s team threatened a lawsuit, they didn’t take the case to court. Herning responded to Swift and her team, saying she would “not be bullied.” The blog post is still online.
Swift was featured on Time magazine’s 2019 Person of the Year cover after she spoke out about her sexual assault.
In December 2017, Swift was one of dozens of people celebrated by Time as a “Silence Breaker.”
The honor came after Swift filed a lawsuit against David Mueller, a radio DJ whom Swift accused of groping her.
The incident, which was caught on camera, took place in 2013. Mueller was fired after Swift reported his behavior to his employer. Mueller then sued Swift for defamation, so she filed a countersuit — for a symbolic $1 — and won.
“What Mr. Mueller did was very intentional,” Swift testified in court. “I am critical of your client for sticking his hand under my skirt and grabbing my ass.”
The trial took place in August 2017, just before the floodgates were opened by the broader #MeToo movement, when women came forward to accuse Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct. Since then, over 50 women have come forward with allegations against Weinstein, and many more have gone public with allegations against other powerful figures in the entertainment industry.
Once the trial ended, Swift pledged donations to “multiple organizations that help sexual assault victims defend themselves.”
“I acknowledge the privilege that I benefit from in life, in society and in my ability to shoulder the enormous cost of defending myself in a trial like this,” she wrote in a statement. “My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard.”
In March 2018, Swift advocated for gun control.
Swift shared a post on Instagram to support March for Our Lives, a movement founded by student activists and survivors of the fatal shooting in Parkland, Florida.
“No one should have to go to school in fear of gun violence. Or to a nightclub. Or to a concert. Or to a movie theater. Or to their place of worship,” Swift wrote in her caption.
“I’ve made a donation to show my support for the students, for the March For Our Lives campaign, for everyone affected by these tragedies, and to support gun reform,” she continued. “I’m so moved by the Parkland High School students, faculty, by all families and friends of victims who have spoken out, trying to prevent this from happening again.”
Two months after her post, Swift kicked off the Reputation Stadium Tour in Glendale, Arizona.
She later revealed that she was “completely terrified” to begin that tour, due to the mounting threat of terrorism and gun violence at concerts.
“I didn’t know how we were going to keep 3 million fans safe over seven months,” Swift wrote for Elle. “There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe.”
“My fear of violence has continued into my personal life,” she added. “I carry QuikClot army grade bandage dressing, which is for gunshot or stab wounds.”
Finally, in October 2018, Swift endorsed two Democratic candidates for senate.
Swift made a public political endorsement for the first time on October 7, 2018.
Ahead of the midterm elections, Swift shared a post on Instagram to champion Democratic candidates Phil Bredesen and Jim Cooper, who were both running for Congress in Swift’s home state of Tennessee.
Swift also included harsh criticism of Rep. Marsha Blackburn, the Republican who represented Tennessee’s 7th District and was running against Bredesen for a US Senate seat.
“As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn,” Swift said. “Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values.”
In the post’s lengthy caption, Swift made it clear that she condemns racism, sexism, and homophobia.
“I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love,” she wrote.
Swift’s passionate endorsement made national news. Many people were surprised that Swift revealed her voting plans after so many years of building an apolitical brand, though others pointed out themes in songs like “Welcome to New York” (“You can want who you want / Boys and boys and girls and girls”) that had already indicated Swift’s progressive mindset.
After her Instagram post went viral, Swift liked dozens of social media posts that showed support for her political engagement.
Later that same month, Swift shared another Instagram in support of Bredesen, writing in the caption, “We want leadership, not fear-based extremism.”
Swift’s dual endorsement led to a surge in voter registration.
Swift’s Instagram post led to a significant spike in voter registration, according to Vote.org.
According to the site, 2,144 people registered to vote in Tennessee in the 36 hours after Swift’s post — more than double the number that registered in August. Overall, registration groups nationwide logged 65,000 voter signups in the 24 hours following Swift’s statement.
“Thank God for Taylor Swift,” Kamari Guthrie, Vote.org’s communications director, told BuzzFeed News.
As for Trump, he told reporters that he likes Swift’s music “about 25% less” now that she’s aligned with the Democrats.
In March 2019, Swift said she was still finding her political voice and pledged “to do more to help” in the future.
On March 6, 2019, Swift published an essay in Elle magazine titled “30 Things I Learned Before Turning 30.”
For No. 28, Swift addressed her evolving role in the political sphere and longtime reluctance to get involved.
“I’m finding my voice in terms of politics,” she wrote. “I took a lot of time educating myself on the political system and the branches of government that are signing off on bills that affect our day-to-day life. I saw so many issues that put our most vulnerable citizens at risk, and felt like I had to speak up to try and help make a change.”
“Only as someone approaching 30 did I feel informed enough to speak about it to my 114 million followers,” Swift continued. “Invoking racism and provoking fear through thinly veiled messaging is not what I want from our leaders, and I realized that it actually is my responsibility to use my influence against that disgusting rhetoric. I’m going to do more to help. We have a big race coming up next year.”
In August 2019, Swift said she’s “obviously” pro-choice and accused Trump of trying to undermine democracy.
During an interview with The Guardian, Swift was asked about lawmakers trying to outlaw abortion in Tennessee, the state where Swift went to high school and owns a home.
“I mean, obviously, I’m pro-choice, and I just can’t believe this is happening,” Swift said. “I can’t believe we’re here. It’s really shocking and awful. And I just wanna do everything I can for 2020. I wanna figure out exactly how I can help, what are the most effective ways to help.”
Swift also criticized Trump for using “all the dirtiest tricks in the book” to win the presidency.
“The thing I can’t get over right now is gaslighting the American public into being like, ‘If you hate the president, you hate America.’ We’re a democracy — at least, we’re supposed to be — where you’re allowed to disagree, dissent, debate,” Swift said. “I really think that he thinks this is an autocracy.”
Swift advocated for LGBTQ+ rights throughout 2019.
Swift officially launched her “Lover” era on April 26, 2019. The album’s lead single “Me!” featured pansexual rockstar Brendon Urie and introduced Swift’s new rainbow-heavy aesthetic, signaling a shift in her priorities.
The album’s second single “You Need to Calm Down,” released on Trump’s birthday, was an explicit ode to LGBTQ+ rights.
The music video depicts a tight-knit trailer park community, occupied by a huge cast of queer musicians and celebrities, and ends with a call to sign a petition in support of the Equality Act — a piece of legislation that aims to extend anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ+ citizens.
Swift brought several of her “You Need to Calm Down” costars to the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, where they accepted the award for video of the year. While onstage, Swift criticized the White House for failing to respond to her petition, which had collected over 500,000 signatures so far.
“In this video, several points were made, so you voting for this video means that you want a world where we’re all treated equally under the law. Regardless of who we love, regardless of how we identify,” Swift said in her acceptance speech.
“I want to thank everyone who signed that petition because it has half a million signatures, which is five times the amount it would need to warrant a response from the White House,” she added, tapping her watch. (To this day, the Equality Act still has not been signed into law.)
Swift continued to campaign for LGBTQ+ rights in 2019 and beyond, from making large donations to organizations like GLAAD to denouncing “harmful” anti-gay legislation during her concerts.
In late 2019, Swift said she regrets not endorsing Hillary Clinton and addressed the alt-right conspiracy theories about her own politics.
In a cover story for Rolling Stone, published in September 2019, Swift was asked about the alt-right bloggers who once suggested she was “on their team.”
Swift said she hadn’t known about the conspiracy theory, but didn’t hesitate to denounce it.
“If that happened, that’s just disgusting,” Swift added. “There’s literally nothing worse than white supremacy. It’s repulsive. There should be no place for it.”
Swift also explained the roots of her “political ambivalence” as a young woman living in the Obama era.
“My first election was voting for him when he made it into office, and then voting to re-elect him,” she said of Obama. “I think a lot of people are like me, where they just didn’t really know that this could happen. But I’m just focused on the 2020 election. I’m really focused on it. I’m really focused on how I can help and not hinder. Because I also don’t want it to backfire again, because I do feel that the celebrity involvement with Hillary’s campaign was used against her in a lot of ways.”
Now, Swift said she regrets her decision not to endorse Clinton in 2016. However, Swift had recently suffered a mass public shaming, and at the time, she was convinced her endorsement would hurt Clinton’s likeability.
“I do think, as a party, we need to be more of a team,” Swift said. “With Republicans, if you’re wearing that red hat, you’re one of them. And if we’re going to do anything to change what’s happening, we need to stick together. “
“We need to stop dissecting why someone’s on our side or if they’re on our side in the right way or if they phrased it correctly,” she continued. “We need to not have the right kind of Democrat and the wrong kind of Democrat. We need to just be like, ‘You’re a Democrat? Sick. Get in the car. We’re going to the mall.’”
Swift’s 2020 documentary “Miss Americana” shed light on her decision to engage with politics.
In the climactic scene of Netflix’s 2020 documentary “Miss Americana” — which explores the evolution of Swift’s public persona, especially throughout the “Reputation” and “Lover” eras — Swift argues with members of her family and team about ending her apolitical stance in 2018.
A member of Swift’s team points out that she had not gotten involved in politics or religion for 12 years, arguing that doing so could cut her fanbase in half.
Swift’s father, Scott Swift, says that he would be “terrified” for Swift’s safety if she were to get involved with politics. He also says that well-known rockstars would stay out of it.
“Why would you? Does Bob Hope do it? Does Bing Crosby do it? Does Mick Jagger do it?” Scott asks his daughter, to which Swift replies, “First of all, these aren’t your dad’s celebrities and these aren’t your dad’s Republicans.”
Swift gets teary-eyed as she insists, “It’s really basic human rights, and it’s right and wrong at this point.” She also says she regrets her silence during the 2016 election season, but she can only change her behavior moving forward.
“I need to do this. I need you to just — dad, I need you to forgive me for doing it because I’m doing it,” she says.
When Swift’s publicist, Tree Paine, points out that Trump might attack her, Swift replies, “Yeah, fuck that, I don’t care. If I get bad press for saying, ‘Don’t put a homophobic racist in office,’ then I get bad press for that.”
The argument leads to Swift sharing her famous Instagram post, in which she condemns Rep. Blackburn and endorses two Democratic candidates for Senate. Later in the documentary, Swift tells the camera, “I feel really good about not feeling muzzled anymore. And it was my own doing.”
In May 2020, Swift criticized Trump and vowed to vote him out of office.
After the murder of George Floyd sparked Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country, Trump threatened to send the National Guard after the protesters (whom he called “thugs”) in Minneapolis.
“Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!” Trump wrote in a tweet, which moderators later flagged as violating their policy against glorifying violence.
Shortly after, Swift slammed Trump’s racist rhetoric and vowed to vote against him in the next presidential election.
“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,” Swift wrote.
The following month, Swift advocated for removing Confederate statues in Tennessee.
“As a Tennessean, it makes me sick that there are monuments standing in our state that celebrate racist historical figures who did evil things,” Swift wrote on social media. “Edward Carmack and Nathan Bedford Forrest were DESPICABLE figures in our state history and should be treated as such.”
In a series of tweets, Swift explained the disturbing history of both Carmack and Forrest, whom she described as a white supremacist and “brutal slave trader,” respectively.
Swift declared her support for Black Lives Matter protestors who tore down Carmack’s statue in Nashville, adding, “Replacing his statue is a waste of state funds and a waste of an opportunity to do the right thing.”
Swift directly addressed the Capitol Commission and the Tennessee Historical Commission, asking them to stop “fighting for these monuments” in her home state.
“Taking down statues isn’t going to fix centuries of systemic oppression, violence and hatred that black people have had to endure but it might bring us one small step closer to making ALL Tennesseans and visitors to our state feel safe — not just the white ones,” she wrote.
In August 2020, Swift tweeted “YES” when Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris as his running mate.
On August 11, 2020, Swift publicly celebrated Harris’ nomination as Vice President.
When Harris tweeted that she was “honored” to join Biden on the Democratic ticket, Swift replied with one word: “YES.”
Later that month, Swift criticized “Trump’s calculated dismantling of USPS.”
Two days after Trump admitted to withholding funding for the US Postal Service, in attempt to sabotage mail-in voting for the 2020 presidential election, Swift tweeted a scathing takedown of his “ineffective leadership.”
“Trump’s calculated dismantling of USPS proves one thing clearly: He is WELL AWARE that we do not want him as our president,” she wrote. “He’s chosen to blatantly cheat and put millions of Americans’ lives at risk in an effort to hold on to power.”
“Donald Trump’s ineffective leadership gravely worsened the crisis that we are in and he is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote and vote safely,” Swift continued. “Request a ballot early. Vote early.”
Swift endorsed Biden for president in October 2020.
Swift explained why she would “proudly” vote for Biden in V Magazine’s Thought Leaders Issue.
“The change we need most is to elect a president who recognizes that people of color deserve to feel safe and represented, that women deserve the right to choose what happens to their bodies, and that the LGBTQIA+ community deserves to be acknowledged and included,” Swift said.
“Everyone deserves a government that takes global health risks seriously and puts the lives of its people first,” she continued. “The only way we can begin to make things better is to choose leaders who are willing to face these issues and find ways to work through them.”
The same day Swift’s magazine cover was unveiled, she also shared a photo of herself on social media holding “Biden Harris 2020” cookies.
“So apt that it’s come out on the night of the VP debate,” Swift wrote. “Gonna be watching and supporting @KamalaHarris by yelling at the tv a lot.”
On the heels of her presidential endorsement, Swift also lent her protest song “Only the Young” to an ad for California Democrat Eric Swalwell.
In June 2022, Swift denounced the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that enshrined the federal right to abortion, Michelle Obama said she was “heartbroken” in a statement shared on social media.
Swift re-shared Obama’s statement, adding that she is “terrified” by the blow to reproductive rights.
“I’m absolutely terrified that this is where we are — that after so many decades of people fighting for women’s rights to their own bodies, today’s decision has stripped us of that,” Swift tweeted.
Swift urged her fans to vote in the 2022 midterm elections, though she didn’t endorse any specific candidates.
On October 19, 2022, Swift shared on a message on her Instagram story about the upcoming midterm elections.
“There are only 20 midnights until the 2022 United States Midterm Elections on November 8,” she wrote, a reference to her 10th album “Midnights,” released that same month. She also included specific early voting instructions for Tennesseans.
On November 8, 2022 (aka Election Day), Swift shared another post urging her fans to vote.
“This year, more than any year in modern history, the Midterm Elections will affect our access to fundamental rights, basic reproductive healthcare, and our ability to make our government work for us,” Swift wrote on her Instagram story. “Your vote is your voice, which is why it’s so important that you use it.”
She inspired tens of thousands of new voters to register in 2023.
On September 21, 2023 (aka National Voter Registration Day), Swift shared another Instagram story to encourage her fans to vote.
“I’ve been so lucky to see so many of you guys at my US shows recently,” she said, referring to the Eras Tour. “I’ve heard you raise your voices, and I know how powerful they are. Make sure you’re ready to use them in our elections this year!”
Swift’s post sparked a 1,226% jump in registrations within a single hour, according to Vote.org. Over 35,000 new voters were registered by the end of the day.
In March 2024, Swift told fans to vote in the presidential primary without endorsing anyone.
On March 5, 2024 (aka Super Tuesday), Swift shared yet another endorsement-less post about the importance of voting.
“I wanted to remind you guys to vote the people who most represent YOU into power,” Swift wrote in her Instagram story. “If you haven’t already, make a plan to vote today.”
Swift has yet to endorse either candidate running for president in 2024, despite reported pressure from both sides to win her support.
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