Swift’s reach is arguably unmatched, with some claiming she now the most famous person in the world during her record-breaking Eras Tour. She has more than 280 million followers on Instagram, far more than Harris’ 17 million and Donald Trump’s 26 million.

But do those statistics translate into actual political influence? It’s a topic that scholars and experts have been debating for years.

According to a PolitiFact article published in February, it would be “misleading to assume that Swift’s potential involvement in the race would be a panacea with guaranteed results.” The article continued:

As my colleague Ja’han Jones wrote for The ReidOut Blog in May, some celebrity endorsements, including Swift’s, haven’t really affected results in recent years. Jones wrote:

The power of her endorsement, then, may not lie so much in turning around Trump supporters or enticing independents, but more in her ability to engage and energize voters more broadly. Vote.org said it saw a 1,226% increase in participation in the hour following Swift’s September 2023 Instagram post and encouraged her followers to register to vote, NPR reported.

“Many Republicans rightly see Taylor as an influential force,” MSNBC’s Ari Melber told viewers in January. “Her impact extends from culture and music to a broader resurgence of feminism and civic engagement. It could affect turnout.”

Regardless of whether Swift’s approval produces resultsS huge results for the Harris-Walz ticket, a ticket the Biden campaign reportedly fought hard to secure.

As The New York Times reported in January, California Gov. Gavin Newsom — then a top deputy for the Biden campaign — had practically begged the pop icon to speak out in support of the president’s re-election campaign.

“Taylor Swift is in a great position and she’s unique,” ​​Newsom, who endorsed Harris after Biden withdrew, told reporters in September 2023. “What she’s been able to do in terms of activating young people and making them realize that they have a voice and that they should have a choice in the next election, I think is incredibly powerful.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.