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Dave Portnoy, the founder and owner of Barstool Sports, has shared his delight after receiving a “handwritten” letter from Taylor Swift, appearing to thank him for his support after she endorsed Kamala Harris for president.
Swift made a rare political statement in September when she announced that she would be voting for Harris in the US election. Her endorsement subsequently prompted 300,000 people to sign up to vote.
The 34-year-old singer received a substanial backlash from Republicans for supporting Harris, with Donald Trump himself saying that he “hates” the pop star.
Portnoy, who is a Trump supporter and a big Swiftie, defended the “Cruel Summer” star amid the criticism against her.
In a post on X/Twitter, shared on 11 September, he wrote: “As the king of the Swifties people are asking me what I think of her Kamala endorsement. I don’t care at all. People can vote for whoever they want in this country. How somebody votes will never change my opinion of a person. I’m voting the other way but to each their own.”
Portnoy then attended Swift’s Eras Tour concert in Miami on 19 October, where he met Swift’s brother Austin and her mother Andrea and was handed a personalised letter from Swift.
On Instagram, he shared images of the note, which featured Swift’s personalised wax seal.
In the letter, she wrote: “Dave, I’m so happy to have you at the show tonight! I wanted to say thank you for always being so supportive, so loyal, and for having my back when a lot of people didn’t. I hope you have a blast tonight!! Love, Taylor.”
In a longer video, Portnoy waxed lyrical about the fun he had at the concert, saying that he had “the time of [his] life” and that “he can’t get over how unbelievable Taylor is” in concert and thanked her for writing the letter.
He then addressed some of the backlash that he has received from Taylor Swift fans, saying: “Not everyone agrees on every issue, politics, whatever it may be, world views — Swifties is about love and support and Taylor.”
Swift who recently announced a new book celebrating the Eras Tour, has also seen her hit song “22” used in a campaign video from Trump’s Team.
The “Team Trump” Instagram posted a video of Lara Trump – the former president’s daughter-in-law and co-chair of the Republican National Committee – political advisor Lynne Patton, sports journalist Sage Steele and other women all wearing pink jackets with the Trump campaign logo.
The video begins with the group lip-syncing to Taylor Swift’s iconic hit, “22”: “I don’t know about you, but I’m…” The song is then interrupted with the phrase, “voting Donald Trump, baby!”
