Elizabeth Warren and ‘original cat lady’ Carole King help raise $122k in Swifties for Harris fundraiser
While Taylor Swift has not publicly endorsed a presidential candidate in this year’s race, her fans have already begun to mobilise
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Your support makes all the difference.Self-proclaimed “original cat lady” Carole King and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren helped rake in a whopping $122,000 for the Harris-Walz campaign by appearing at a Swifties for Kamala online fundraiser on Tuesday evening.
While Swift herself is yet to endorse either candidate in the 2024 race, fans have mobilized and formed Swifties for Kamala.
The group describes itself as a “coalition of Swifties ready to mobilize Taylor Swift fans to help get Democratic candidates elected up & down the ballot” and asked fans to donate $13 or $19.89 – numbers significant to the singer – or $47 – a reference to the next president.
Their tactics paid off as the donations poured in during the two-hour event on Tuesday.
At the start of the rally, Warren, 74, told Swifties they are “resilient” and “know how to stand up to “bullies like Donald Trump... And that’s what the Kamala Harris campaign is all about”.
“It’s about standing up for what is right in the face of bullies like Donald Trump,” she said.
“Donald Trump and the Republican politicians are trying to claw us back into the dark days. Days where women have to wait when they’re on the verge of death to get abortion care they need... Under a Kamala Harris presidency, our future is bright.”
Music legend King was introduced by organizers to the online rally of more than 34,000 Swifties as “the original cat lady, definitely one of our people” – taking a clear swipe at JD Vance’s “childless cat ladies” remarks, which continue to come back to bite him.
King, who joked that Swift is her “musical and songwriting granddaughter”, dished out advice on how to successfully door knock, urging Swifties to get out and volunteer for the Harris-Walz campaign.
“I’ve been a political activist for years,” the 82-year-old said.
“I’ve been a volunteer, a door knocker even as a famous person. The key to door knocking is asking a good question and then listening. Don’t be afraid. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
The musician also delighted Swifties by rapping a rendition of Shake it Off at the end of her speech.
“Taylor inducted me into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame when she sang my song Will You Love Me Tomorrow, so I have to go…” King said, before launching into Swift’s hit from the album 1989.
King previously took aim at Republican vice presidential candidate Vance’s “childless cat ladies” comment when she posted a photo of her iconic Tapestry album cover on Instagram and captioned it: “Cat ladies for Kamala.”
Other Democrats who spoke at the rally included Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Ed Markey, congressman Chris Deluzio and congresswoman Becca Balint.
The Swifties for Harris event comes after Trump falsely implied that Swift had endorsed him when he shared a post on Truth Social containing fake images of the singer and her fans wearing “Swifties for Trump” T-shirts.
Two days after he shared the deep fakes earlier this month, Fox Business correspondent Gary Trimble asked Trump whether he was worried that Swift would sue him.
Trump replied by claiming he knew nothing about the images. “I don’t know anything about them, other than somebody else generated them. I didn’t generate them,” he said.
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