Former President Donald Trump said he wasn't a Taylor Swift fan after the star endorsed his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, for president. However, his campaign can't say the same about the musician's merch design.
On Thursday, the Trump campaign posted on X "calling all Swifties for Trump" to get their "Trump Era shirt today." It included a link to an item on the official Trump-Vance merchandise website that closely mimics Swift's signature Eras Tour t-shirt.
Priced at $36, the "Trump Era White T-Shirt" features a black-and-white photo of the Republican presidential nominee surrounded by nine other images of him in different colored squares. Underneath the grid, two lines of text read "Donald J. Trump" and "Make America Great Again."
🚨NEW MERCH🚨
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) September 12, 2024
Calling all Swifties for Trump
Get your Trump Era shirt today 👉https://t.co/HkA7LwHhIC pic.twitter.com/gqqITeCOFb
On Swift's official store website, various shirts and crewnecks feature a nearly identical design: A black-and-white image of the singer is centered among nine other images from her different album "eras," all colored with nearly the exact same tint and arrangement used in Trump's "Era" t-shirt. Also, the two lines of text underneath the grid reading "Taylor Swift" and "The Eras Tour" appear in a very similar font.
The similarities seemed to strike a chord with Swifties, who responded to the Trump campaign's post about the new t-shirt calling it his "lawsuit era" or saying he "deserves a cease and desist."
The new merchandise item appeared on Trump's website two days after his debate with Harris, which was also the night Swift announced her support for the Democratic candidate.
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"I'm voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. 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 wrote on Instagram, also voicing support for Harris' running mate, Gov. Tim Walz.
Swift also denounced Trump's use of AI images of her that falsely endorsed his presidential run, which she says brought her to the conclusion that she needed to make her true stance transparent.
Within an hour of her post, the Democratic campaign's store also took a note from the Swift — or rather, Swiftie — merchandise playbook and began selling "Harris-Walz friendship bracelets," with a description that read, in part, "Are you ready for it?" It's a nod to the megastar's song "...Ready For It?" from her 2017 album "reputation" and to an "Eras Tour" pastime involving the swapping of similar handmade bracelets, which was inspired by a lyric in Swift's 2022 song "You're On Your Own, Kid."
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The campaign bracelets, listed at $20 each, are expected to be released Sept. 24 following the presale that began on Tuesday, but the Harris-Walz official store says they're already sold out.
Swift has been vocal about her support for Democratic candidates in the past, confirming in 2020 that she'd be voting for President Biden and Harris. The following year, she told Vanity Fair that Trump's presidency pushed her to educate herself and then publicly support the "leadership that moves us beyond this divisive, heartbreaking moment in time."
Trump appeared to note her political history on "Fox & Friends" the morning after the debate, telling the hosts it "was just a question of time" that she'd endorse a Democrat" and calling her "a very liberal person." But he also said her endorsement would lead her to "probably pay a price for it in the marketplace."
