These Taylor Swift Fans Raised $144k For Kamala Harris

Posted by Megan Liscomb
These Taylor Swift Fans Raised $144k For Kamala Harris

On July 21, President Joe Biden announced that he would no longer be running for re-election in 2024 and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to finish the race. That very same day, this tweet from 22-year-old Emerald Medrano activated an enormous and powerful yet often underestimated demographic: Taylor Swift fans.

I feel like us U.S swifties should mass organize and help campaign for Kamala Harris and spread how horrendous project 2025 would be to help get people’s butts down to the polls in November 😭 like if we don’t want democracy to end we really need to move and push blue votes

— 🪩 eME!rald 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🍉 iso eras tour tickets (@hushmirrorball) July 21, 2024

Twitter: @hushmirrorball

Just over a month later, on August 27, Swifties for Kamala hosted a Zoom call that raised $144,000 for the Harris-Walz campaign and got 14,000 people registered to vote. More than 34,000 people watched the call live to see fans like themselves, along with politicians like Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand (plus the legendary Carole King), and to talk about why they hope America will never, ever, ever get back together with former president and convicted felon Donald Trump.

Twitter: @Swifties4Kamala

And they did all this without any help or endorsement from Taylor or her team, though they told BuzzFeed that “she is welcome to show up at our party anytime!”

To learn how they pulled it off and what’s coming next, BuzzFeed interviewed three of the organizers behind Swifties for Kamala: Emerald Medrano, 22, cofounder and chairman; Irene Kim, 29, cofounder and executive director; and April Glick Pulito, 36, political director.

The group shared the deeply personal reason why they decided to organize Taylor Swift fans to support Kamala Harris’s campaign and opened up about the biggest challenges they’ve faced so far. They talked about why people often underestimate the power of fandom — especially when it comes to women and girls — and shared how they’re proving their critics wrong.

Let’s chat about all things 2024 Election

And above all, they want you to know that there’s no perfect time or way to get into politics, so why not start with something as simple as a friendship bracelet? Here’s what else they had to say.

BuzzFeed: How many people are working on Swifties for Kamala behind the scenes, and did you all meet online through the fandom?

What inspired you to tap into the Taylor Swift fandom to make a difference in the 2024 election?

What were some of the biggest challenges in organizing the Swifties for Kamala Zoom call, and which parts came more easily?

It seems to me like people tend to severely underestimate what Swifties are capable of. Why do you think that is?

Twitter: @Swifties4Kamala

Swifties have rallied around important causes and have supported one another for years – whether it’s to help someone in our community going through tough times, raise money when tragedy strikes, or bring awareness to an issue, this is what we do.

I think there also tends to be this idea that we’re just this entity of faceless fans waiting for Taylor to tell us what to do, but we’re not. We’re your friends, family, coworkers, even some of your bosses. We’re real people who are united by our love for Taylor Swift, care about a lot of important issues, and know how to get things done together.

It’s unfortunate that people underestimate us, but we’re more than happy to keep surprising people with how much we can get done.

What would you say to other young people who want to get involved in politics but aren’t sure where to start or who feel like their voices won’t matter?

What are your plans as we get closer to the election?

Anything else you want to say?

Twitter: @Swifties4Kamala

April Glick Pulito: I stress a lot inside our Discord and online that we can’t get distracted between now and November 5th! We love talking about our fandom, the astounding catalog of music we get to listen to, the latest Chiefs game, sure, but again, we have 60 days (as of now) until the election.

We should try not to get lost in discourse and instead focus our energies where they can make a difference. Every single thing we do between now and November 5th DOES matter so let’s make it count!

Make your vote count! Learn more about how to register, important deadlines, and your state’s mail-in voting options here. For more on the 2024 election, check out coverage on BuzzFeed, HuffPost, and NBC News.




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