Kamala Harris’ Brat Summer has found the “Swiftie VP” to match its freak.
On Tuesday, after Harris announced Tim Walz as her choice for VP, music stans did a deep dive on the Minnesota governor and found out that Walz has not only honored Prince, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Bruce Springsteen, but he’s also helped protect ticket buyers from exploitative fees.
Walz earned the nickname of “Swiftie VP” after Swifties found out he signed House File 1989 — named after Swift’s album and birthyear — to ban hidden fees and call for “transparency around pricing when buying tickets online.”
“Kamala’s VP pick being a swiftie might just have a bigger impact on this election than you’d think and in the best way, like the amount of other swifties I’ve already seen posting in support of them,” read one fan post.
“We finally have a Swiftie VP to take down Ticketmaster,” wrote another, referencing the company investigated for imposing hefty fees on tickets.
Many stans also shared a photo Walz posted of his cat “after being online all day and not getting Taylor Swift tickets” in late 2022. Two years later, upon Swift’s arrival to the state for the Eras Tour, Walz proclaimed two days in June 2023 as “Taylor Swift Days.”
“Long story short, Taylor Swift has enchanted and inspired Minnesotans and people all over the world,” read his lyric-referencing proclamation, describing the Eras Tour show as “a concert fans will remember evermore.”
He did something similar for Beyoncé’s stop in Minnesota for her Renaissance run, honoring the singer’s “exceptional artistry” and “empowering messages” by proclaiming July 20, 2023, as “Beyoncé Day” in Minnesota. “Oh, he part of the hive? Yea… he solidified my support,” read one tweet from a BeyHive member. “The Bey Hive is mobilizing as we speak!” read another. (Harris is notably using Bey’s song “Freedom” on the campaign trail.)
Walz is also a classic rock lover, and a lifelong fan of The Boss. In July 2022, he was struggling to get tickets to his show and tweeted: “Anyone manage to get an extra Bruce Springsteen ticket today? Asking for a friend.” The Boss, like Bey and Tay, also got his own Bruce Springsteen Day the following year, when Walz described the musician as a “living legend.”
After Harris’ announced she’d add Walz to her ticket, former congressman Beto O’Rourke shared his excitement for Walz by posting a photo of the pair at a Springsteen concert in New York. (Looks like he got the ticket after all!)
“We became friends in Congress, going on early morning runs… talking Minnesota music, the Replacements (Tim!), Prince, Dylan, Husker Du, and sharing stories about our families and hometowns,” O’Rourke wrote on X.
The governor even proclaimed April 2019 as Minnesota Music Month and celebrated the accomplishments of Minnesotan artists such as Lizzo, Bob Dylan, Prince, and The Replacements in his proclamation. And in 2023, he renamed a state highway in honor of Prince.
“Prince was a proud Minnesotan through and through, and it’s only fitting that we honor this icon in the community he called home,” he wrote at the time.
Through his time as governor, Walz has also uplifted music educators via the National Association for Music Education’s Music in Our Schools month, and encouraged Minnesotans to “shop local for your vinyl” by sharing a photo of some record purchases, including The Moody Blues’ Long Distance Voyager, Steve Winwood’s Arc of a Diver, and Warren Zevon’s Bad Luck Streak in a Dancing School.
“Electric Fetus for the win,” he wrote, shouting out a Minneapolis record store.
The Swiftie-BeyHive excitement about the election arrives as Harris’ campaign has been tapping into the internet-obsessed, music-loving Gen-Z electorate herself as Harris videos — including the “coconut tree” meme — have gone viral for months. Harris even joined TikTok and made a video with Lance Bass, playing on *NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye.”
“Our job as a campaign is to break through the noise and make sure we’re talking to voters wherever they are — TikTok is one of those landscapes, and we’re leaving no stone unturned,” deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty told People last month.
Harris’ campaign has also played into Charli XCX’s Brat by changing their X header to the chartreuse aesthetic of the album. And after clips of Harris to the beat of Charli XCX’s album Brat went viral, the singer declared on X, “Kamala IS brat.” Kesha even interpolated a fan-made remix of Harris’ “coconut tree” meme with “Blow” during her set at Lollapalooza last weekend.
