Trump says he hates Taylor Swift after Harris endorsement

The former US president had previously posted AI images suggesting Swift had endorsed him for president.

In a post on his social media platform, Trump said he hates Swift, who told her 284 million Instagram followers that she would be voting for Harris.

Former president Donald Trump has taken on global superstar Taylor Swift after her endorsement of Vice-President Kamala Harris for president.

In a post on his social media platform, Mr Trump said he hated Swift, who told her 284 million Instagram followers last week that she would be voting for her and her running mate, Minnesota Govenor Tim Walz in November.

Mr Trump’s post, which said simply “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” in capital letters on Truth Social, quickly spread around other social media sites.

The Harris campaign responded on X, a platform owned by Trump-backer Elon Musk, with a statement criticising Mr Trump’s post, sprinkled with references to Swift songs.

“The American people want to be Out of the Woods of the chaos and division of the Trump era, leave behind the Blank Space of Trump’s broken promises, and Begin Again by electing Vice-President Harris to ensure America’s future of opportunity is Long Lived,” the post by Harris campaign spokesman Serafina Chitika said.

Says the smallest man who ever lived. pic.twitter.com/0CpyGvhsuk

— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) September 15, 2024

Later on Sunday (Monday AEST), Mr Trump’s campaign announced the former president was safe after an incident near his Florida golf resort. “President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity, ” said a statement from Trump communications director Steven Cheung.

Swift posted her endorsement of Ms Harris and Mr Walz minutes after Ms Harris and Mr Trump’s televised presidential debate ended on Tuesday night. “I believe she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”

She signed the post, Childless Cat Lady, a nod to Trump running mate JD Vance’s criticism of childless cat ladies.

Swift’s post has been liked more than 11 million times.

In the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll released on Sunday, 81 per cent of respondents said Swift’s endorsement made no difference. Just 6 per cent of respondents said Swift’s endorsement made them more likely to vote for her, while 13 per cent said it made them less likely. The poll noted that those with negative reactions were overwhelmingly Trump supporters.

That same poll found that more Americans say Ms Harris won the debate than Mr Trump, by a 58 per cent to 36 per cent margin. Of the nearly 3300 surveyed, 37 per cent said they felt more favourably towards Ms Harris after the debate, while 30 per cent said they felt less favourably towards Mr Trump.

While 95 per cent of Democrats said Ms Harris won the debate, 75 per cent of Republicans said Mr Trump won. Among those who said they watched all or some of the debate, 64 per cent said Ms Harris won, the poll said. Ms Harris’s supporters are also more likely (75 per cent) to have read, watched, or listened to news coverage or commentary about the debate, compared with 59 per cent of Trump supporters.

The Wall Street Journal