Bill Maher eventually addressed the “big news this week” on the latest episode of HBO’s Real Time — Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris.
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| Bill Maher and Taylor Swift Ronald Martinez/Getty Images; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images |
Maher was struck by the pop superstar’s impact on the 2024 presidential election. It was reported that her endorsement drove over 400,000 people to Vote.gov, a voter registration resource that directs users to their local state election websites.
“Taylor Swift finally told people who to vote for,” Maher remarked. “Of course, the immediate reaction from the other side was, ‘Celebrity endorsements don’t matter.’ People are always behind the curve on these things.
Conventional wisdom for a long time said many celebrity endorsements don’t work… but not in this case — just look at how many people registered right after that tweet.”
The comedian added, “And honestly, we live in Starfucker, America. George Clooney is the one who got Biden to step down. I wrote the same editorial as him, and so did many others. Nobody paid attention. But as soon as George Clooney said it, he had to go.”
Maher also mulled over a “surprising” statistic about Swift’s fanbase from a May poll by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for Newsweek.
“The most surprising part was who she influenced,” he said. “Swift reportedly has more sway over male voters — 27 percent of whom said they’d be more likely to vote for a candidate endorsed by her. I must have misunderstood this phenomenon. I thought it would be women.”
Following the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris earlier this week, Swift used her social media to give Harris her powerful endorsement.
“I’m voting for [Kamala Harris] because she advocates for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to support them,” the Grammy-winning singer wrote. “I see her as a steady-handed, talented leader, and I believe we can achieve much more in this country with calm leadership rather than chaos. I was truly encouraged by her choice of running mate [Tim Walz], who has been a long-time advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body.”
Friday’s episode of Real Time also featured guests Alex Karp, Kristen Soltis Anderson, and Al Franken.
