Vice President Kamala Harris gained a slight polling boost after facing off against former President Donald Trump during the presidential debate at the Constitutional Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday, September 10th, earning an endorsement from pop icon Taylor Swift.
According to an ABC News poll/ Ipsos, 58% of Americans say Harris won the presidential debate compared to 38% who argue that Trump won. In addition, 37% of respondents told ABC News on September 10 that the presidential debate increased their liking towards Harris whereas 17% said the same about Trump. As a result, Harris’ RealClearPolitics average polling lead doubled from 1.1% on Sept 10 to 2.0% on Sept 18.
Trump’s arguably poor showing led to a high-profile endorsement from Taylor Swift on Instagram. Swift’s post came weeks after Trump reposted an AI-generated endorsement of her on his Truth Social during the Democratic National Convention in August. Swift accompanied the endorsement with a voting registration link and early voting dates on her Instagram story.
“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election,” said Swift. “I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.”
Vote.gov saw 406,000 people register to vote after Swift’s endorsement. However,
just 8% from the ABC/Ipsos poll say her endorsement made them more likely to vote for Harris. 81% said the endorsement had no impact and 13% said her endorsement made them less likely to support Harris. However, Liberal Taylor Swift fans are pleased with Swift’s choice to create a post in support of Kamala Harris.
“No, I already knew [who I was voting for], but I am happy with it [Swift’s endorsement].” said Burlington County March of our Lives chapter founder Ava Walsh.
Despite having no major impact on the polls, Swift’s endorsement seemingly aggravated Trump, as he took to Truth Social to make a “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” post.
The Harris-Trump debate garnered 31 million additional people compared to the Biden-Trump debate; a 31% increase. In total, 67 million people watched through various platforms. However, high schoolers at Rancocas Valley Regional High School, for the most part, did not watch the debate.
“It is not really that interesting to me,” said freshman Sophia Plante. “I feel like if I don’t have a vote, why should I watch it.”
Students who did watch it, including Walsh, highlighted Trump’s false and widely mocked claim that Haitian Immigrants in Springfield Ohio are eating people’s pets. Terrorists have threatened the Haitian community in Springfield following Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance’s allegations.
“When Trump said migrants were eating dogs, that part stood out to me,” said Walsh.
Overall, despite a slight moving of the needle, voters seem to have become increasingly harder to sway than in previous elections. According to a Franklin % Marshall poll, just 3% of voters in Pennsylvania are undecided, a steep decline from 15% in 2016 and 6% in 2020. Because of how put voters are in their voting habits, the few swing voters have more sway and are more important than ever. Every single vote counts and as of now, Harris has a slight and growing edge.
