Taylor Swift talked about the importance of voting, and registration spiked
October 9, 2018
It’s been only two days since her impassioned Instagram post encouraged fans to become politically active, but Taylor Swift is already rocking the vote. And rankling President Trump in the process.
New voter registrations spiked after the pop star waded into political waters on Sunday, Vote.org director of communications Kamari Guthrie told BuzzFeed News.
“We are up to 65,000 registrations in a single 24-hour period since T. Swift’s post,” Guthrie told the outlet, compared to 190,178 new voters registered nationwide in September, while 56,669 registered in August.
“Thank God for Taylor Swift,” Guthrie added.
Vote.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that, according to its website, “uses technology to simplify political engagement, increase voter turnout, and strengthen American democracy.”
Beyond getting out the vote, Swift also endorsed Democratic candidates Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for Congress in the state of Tennessee, despite being pained by not supporting a female candidate.
“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 of the Tennessee congresswoman running for Senate, citing Blackburn’s voting record.
“She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape,” Swift detailed. “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,” the singer emphasized.
But according to CNN, not everyone was taken with Swift’s partisan politicking.
When asked about the singer’s stance, Trump dismissed Swift’s comments, saying, “I’m sure Taylor Swift doesn’t know anything about” Blackburn.
“Let’s say that I like Taylor’s music about 25 percent less now, OK?” Trump joked.