JD Vance reacts to Taylor Swift’s jab at him, Harris endorsement: ‘Fundamentally disconnected’
Swift signed her endorsement with a dig to a controversial remark made by Vance in the past
2024 GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance remembers 9/11 and responds to the Trump-Harris debate and more on ‘The Story.’
JD Vance shrugged off Taylor Swift as “fundamentally disconnected from the problems of most Americans” after the pop superstar endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for president.
“We admire Taylor Swift’s music, but I don’t think most Americans, whether they like her music, are fans of her 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 Wednesday on “The Story.”
Taylor Swift at the Chiefs game against the Baltimore Ravens at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 5, 2024, in Kansas City, Missouri. (David Eulitt/Getty Images)
“When grocery prices go up 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,” Vance continued. “It does affect middle-class Americans all over our country.”
Swift endorsed Harris minutes after she and former President Trump wrapped up their first presidential debate on Tuesday night.
“The Story” anchor Martha MacCallum noted that Swift took a jab at Vance in her announcement, signing off as “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady.” The refrain, which has gone viral in recent weeks, referenced a comment made by Vance in 2021 when he declared that the U.S. was effectively being run “by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they wanna make the rest of the country miserable, too.” He has since defended the remark as a “joke” that was “willfully misinterpreted” by Democrats.
Sen. JD Vance speaks at a rally at trucking company, Team Hardinger, on Aug. 28, 2024 in Erie, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
Swift, who posted a picture of herself cradling her cat above her endorsement on Instagram, said she will be voting for Harris because “she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.”
Vance said he believes the Trump campaign has a more compelling and relatable message for female voters, highlighting the GOP pledge to restore public safety nationally.
“I think our pitch to women voters is very simple. Donald Trump delivered policies that lowered the prices of groceries, lowered the prices of housing and most importantly, Donald Trump delivered public safety in our country.”
He continued, “I’ve got three little kids, I want my kids to grow up in a country where the neighborhoods are safe enough, the streets are safe enough for them not to make mistakes and not have it take their lives. 20 years ago, [if] you smoke a joint you got yelled at by your parents. Today you smoke a joint, it’s laced with fentanyl and might take a teenager’s life.
Former President Trump and Sen. JD Vance attend a ceremony marking the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in Manhattan, Sept. 11, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Segar )
“I don’t want that for my family, I don’t think most women want that for their neighborhoods and their families and our argument is elect Donald Trump. We will redeliver the public safety that has been so lacking in this country the last few years.”
Earlier Wednesday, Trump appeared to be unbothered by Swift’s endorsement of Harris, remarking in a “Fox & Friends” interview that he expected her to endorse the Democratic nominee.
“It was just a question of time. She couldn’t […] possibly endorse Biden. You look at Biden, you couldn’t possibly endorse him,” Trump said, clarifying that he is “not a Taylor Swift fan.”
“She’s a very liberal person. She seems to always endorse a Democrat,” he added. “And she’ll probably pay a price for it […] in the marketplace.”
