Tim Walz is “incredibly grateful” for Taylor Swift after the singer-songwriter endorsed him and running mate Kamala Harris for vice president and president, respectively, in the 2024 election.
The Minnesota governor learned of the news on Tuesday evening during a live interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. As the host read Swift’s full Instagram post following the presidential debate, a stunned Walz could be seen beaming before putting his hand over his heart.
“I am incredibly grateful, first of all, to Taylor Swift. I say that also, as a cat owner, a fellow cat owner. Look, you heard it, we know that it’s there. That was eloquent and it was clear, and that’s the type of courage we need in America to stand up,” he said of the endorsement. “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 service in a pregnancy.”
Walz continued, “And now you have somebody like Taylor Swift coming out making that very clear. This would be the opportunity Swifties, KamalaHarris.com. Get on over there, get things going.”
In her post, Swift called Harris a “steady-handed, gifted leader” and added that she was “heartened and impressed” by the VP’s selection of Walz, who has “been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.”
“I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos,” the singer-songwriter shared.
The post came after Swift said she was made aware of AI images of her that were falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run, which “really conjured up my fears around AI and the dangers of spreading misinformation.”
“It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter,” she added. “The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth. I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 presidential election.”
“I’ve done my research and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make,” she concluded. “I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early. I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story.”
Swift signed the post by referring to herself as “Childless Cat Lady” — a shot at Trump VP pick JD Vance.
In response to Swift’s endorsement, Trump told Fox News he was never a Swiftie — despite the fact that he shared AI images of her “endorsing” him, proudly captioned, “I accept!” — and that “she’ll pay a price” for making said endorsement.
“I actually like Mrs. [Brittany] Mahomes much better, if you want to know the truth. She’s a big Trump fan,” he told “Fox & Friends” Wednesday morning. “I was not a Taylor Swift fan. It was just a question of time.”
He added, “You couldn’t possibly endorse Biden, you look at Biden, you couldn’t possibly endorse him. 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.”
Check out Walz’s reaction to Swift’s endorsement, above.
