During last night’s U.S. presidential debate, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump battled to win over undecided swing voters. Compared to Joe Biden’s floundering performance in June, Harris spoke with clear determination on topics like women’s reproductive rights, the climate, immigration, and her “opportunity economy” plan. Trump, meanwhile, was frequently fact-checked by the moderators.

Harris’s efforts appear to have convinced one particularly influential voter: global superstar Taylor Swift. The singer-songwriter rushed to Instagram to inform her 283 million followers that she plans to vote for Harris and her running mate Tim Walz.

 

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“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,” said Swift, who also encouraged the newest generation of first-time voters to ensure they are registered and post their ballot early.

Swift signed off this missive “childless cat lady,” a reference to a comment made by Trump’s running mate JD Vance in 2021. In a video clip that has recently gone viral, he called several Democrats, including Harris, “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives.”

To further emphasize the point, Swift shared a portrait of herself by renowned artist duo Inez and Vinoodh, who photographed her for the cover of TIME when she was named its Person of the Year in 2023. She is shown proudly holding aloft her cat Benjamin Button, a Ragdoll that she adopted as a kitten after he starred in her 2019 music video “ME!”

Me Kissing Vinoodh (Passionately) – Inez e Vinoodh#art #photography pic.twitter.com/zZruzfL75U

— ♛ℓεσŋαrðσ☮ (@LeonardoBa92) June 27, 2016

The Dutch partnership between Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin was established in 1986 and shot to prominence in the 1990s for theatrical photographs that blended reality with computer-assisted manipulation in a seamless manner that was ahead of its time.

In the provocative Thank You Thighmaster (1993) series, they used Paintbox digital software to alter semi-naked images of women until they resembled uncanny, pliant dolls. In Me Kissing Vinoodh (Passionately) (1999), Inez’s male partner has been removed from the image so that a moment of passion becomes a strange, gaping gesture.

The pair are also widely known for their legendary advertising campaigns for top fashion houses like Givenchy, Chanel, Balenciaga, Christian Dior, Gucci, and Yves Saint Laurent, as well as editorial shoots for Vogue. They have made portraits for a long list of public figures, including Lady Gaga, Kate Moss, Clint Eastwood, Nicole Kidman, and Barack Obama. Before 2023, they had previously photographed Swift in 2019 for Vogue.

L: U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris smiles during a presidential debate with former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 2024. R: American singer and songwriter Taylor Swift performs on stage as part of her Eras Tour in Lisbon on May 24, 2024. Photo: Saul Loebandre Dias Nobre /AFP via Getty Images.

When asked why they though Swift was an “ideal” subject in 2023, Inez and Vinoodh told TIME: “Apart from her beauty, obviously, there’s this idea that she’s your best friend. What’s so wonderful about her is she’s open and real and she’ll talk about anything, like she does in her lyrics—she loves connecting.”

They said their decision to feature Benjamin Button was inspired by the book Cat People (1978) by photographer Bill Hayward that featured notable figures with their cats. The pair bought a vintage copy of the book for Swift.

What effect might Swift’s support have? Harris only replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee in July but her belated campaign was quickly boosted by the endorsement of British pop star Charli XCX, who tweeted “kamala IS brat.” The statement was a reference to the artist’s hugely successful album and cultural phenomenon brat, baffling boomers but delighting Gen Z. The Harris campaign found this recommendation important enough to amplify it, temporarily changing the backdrop on its official X account, @kamalahq, to the lurid hue now known as brat green.