Trump lashes out: "I hate Taylor Swift"
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This illustration photo taken in Washington, DC, on Sept. 10 shows Taylor Swift's Instagram post endorsing US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Photo: PEDRO UGARTE/AFP via Getty Images)
Days after Taylor Swift endorsed his opponent, former President Trump took aim at the pop superstar on social media Sunday.
Why it matters: Swift's much-anticipated endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris (which Trump did not directly mention in his post) directly drove about 338,000 visits in 15 hours to Vote.gov, the federal voter registration site the singer linked to on an Instagram Story post.
- It's unknown how many of the Swift-directed site visitors registered to vote.
Driving the news: "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!" the former president wrote in a Sunday post to Truth Social, providing no other context for the declaration of his loathing.
- On Wednesday, Trump responded to Swift's endorsement, saying during a "Fox & Friends" interview she'll "probably pay a price ... in the marketplace."
- He said he wasn't a fan, adding, "I actually like Mrs. Mahomes much better," referencing Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Catch up quick: Swift, identifying as a "childless cat lady," threw her support behind Harris just minutes after the debate between the vice president and the GOP nominee ended.
- "I think 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," Swift said of Harris in an Instagram post.
- The "Shake it Off" singer endorsed Biden in the 2020 race but had yet to publicly endorse a presidential candidate in November's election.
The other side: "Donald Trump's week of whining and spouting conspiracy theories has voters on both sides of the aisle ready to Forget That He Existed," Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement shared with Axios that contained references to the titles of several of Swift's songs.
Zoom out: Earlier this year, Trump stirred the "Bad Blood," by sharing a series of images on Truth Social that appeared to be AI-generated showing Swift and her fans supporting him.
- Swift referenced the images in her endorsement, writing, "Recently I was made aware that AI of 'me' falsely endorsing Donald Trump's presidential run was posted to his site."
- She continued: "It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation."
Friction point: Asked Sunday about the former president's post and Swift's endorsement, the Trump campaign pointed to recent ABC-Ipsos polling among all adults that showed Swift's backing had little impact in a tight race: 6% say her endorsement of Harris makes them more likely to vote for her.
- 13% said it makes them less likely to support her, while 81% said it makes no difference.
- The poll found that those responding negatively were "overwhelmingly Trump supporters," ABC reported.
Go deeper: "Stick to singing": MAGA backlash against Taylor Swift gets ugly
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a statement from the Harris-Walz campaign.
