Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance referred to pop icon Taylor Swift as a “disconnected” billionaire on Wednesday, a day after she endorsed the Democratic presidential ticket, responding to his earlier criticism of “childless cat ladies” like herself.
“We admire Taylor Swift’s music, but I don’t think most Americans, whether they like her music or are fans of hers or not, are going to be influenced by a billionaire celebrity who I think is fundamentally disconnected from the interests and the problems of most Americans,” Vance said during an appearance on Fox News’ “The Story.”
He added, “Look, when grocery prices go up by 20%, it hurts most Americans. It doesn’t hurt Taylor Swift. When housing prices become unaffordable, it doesn’t affect Taylor Swift or any other billionaire. It does affect middle-class Americans all over our country.”
Swift, 34, responded to Vance’s 2021 remarks about childless women in an Instagram post endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, which was shared shortly after Harris debated former President Donald Trump Tuesday night. In the post, featuring a photo of Swift holding her cat, Benjamin Button, the singer wrote: “I think [Harris] 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 highlighted three policy areas — LGBT rights, abortion rights, and access to IVF — in her endorsement, saying: “I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate [Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz], who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.” She signed off the post with, “Taylor Swift Childless Cat Lady.”
Swift’s net worth is estimated at $1.3 billion, while Trump’s is approximately $3.8 billion. In a resurfaced interview with Tucker Carlson after being chosen as Trump’s running mate, Vance had said, “We are effectively run in this country — via the Democrat [Party], via our corporate oligarchs — by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.”
Vance added, “If you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children.”
Trump has had a mixed record on some of the issues Swift invoked. While he was the first sitting president to support same-sex marriage and appointed the first openly gay acting Cabinet member, he has vowed to ban transgender women from competing in female sports if re-elected. On abortion, Trump faces political challenges following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, though he has supported exceptions in cases of rape, incest, and maternal health risks and opposed a six-week ban in Florida.
Trump has also called for greater access to IVF, proposing either a federal insurance mandate or government-funded coverage for the procedure.
Swift’s endorsement was largely expected, as she has long been considered a Harris supporter. Her Instagram post garnered nearly 10 million likes by mid-afternoon Wednesday. Speculation that Swift and Beyoncé would perform before Harris’ speech at the Democratic National Convention last month also drew large crowds hours before the vice president took the stage.
