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Donald Trump has warned Taylor Swift will “probably pay a price” for endorsing Kamala Harris following Tuesday night’s presidential debate.
Trump dialled in to Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning and tried to shrug off the megastar’s endorsement of his political opponent, declaring he was “not a fan” of the singer.
“I was not a Taylor Swift fan,” he said.
“It was just a question of time. She couldn’t possibly endorse Biden… But 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.”
Trump went on to say that he prefers Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“I like Brittany, I think Brittany’s great,” he said. “Brittany got a lot of news last week, she’s a big MAGA fan, that’s the one I like much better than Taylor Swift.”
When Trump was initially asked for his reaction to the news that Swift had endorsed Harris in the immediate aftermath of the debate, he told CNN: “I have no idea.”
Swift, who carries enormous sway with younger voters, broke her silence mere moments after the heated debate to officially throw her support behind Harris.
In a lengthy post on Instagram, she said that having watched the debate, Harris “fights for the rights and causes I believe.”
“Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most,” she wrote.
“As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country.
“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.”
Trump had previously shared several deepfake images of the Cruel Summer singer, which included a propaganda-style poster of Swift dressed like Uncle Sam, pointing to the viewer and overlaid with the message “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.”
Swift called Trump out for this in her endorsement of Harris. “Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site,” Swift wrote.
“It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation.”
In a clear jab at Trump’s running mate JD Vance, Swift signed off her post as “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady” alongside a photo of her with her cat Benjamin Button.
Harris’s running mate Tim Walz was told Swift had endorsed him and Harris live on air in an interview on MSNBC.
Hearing the news, he held his hand over his heart as host Rachel Maddow read the star’s statement to him, including her praise for Walz for “standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades”.
“Wow,” Walz mouthed. “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.”
The Democratic vice presidential nominee added: “We’ve seen it out of those Republicans who were at the DNC. We’ve seen it out of women who would like to have their own personal lives kept personal, but are forced to go out there because they nearly died because they can’t get abortion services in a pregnancy, and now you have somebody like Taylor Swift coming out, making that very clear.”
And in what appeared to be a nod to Swift, Harris’s X account shared an image of Harris-Walz friendship bracelets in the style of ones her fans swap at her concerts.
Meanwhile Swifties For Kamala, who describe themselves as a coalition of Swift fans working together to help elect progressive candidates in elections in the US, said they were “exhilarated” by the news.
“We knew she would speak when the time was right and are so excited to keep up the fight,” Irene Kim, Swifties For Kamala co-founder added.
The group said it has raised over $158,000 for the Harris campaign so far and has mobilized over 90,000 people to take action by checking their voter registrations.
