After Tuesday’s presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, global superstar Taylor Swift officially endorsed Harris via an Instagram caption.
Weirdly, both campaigns released merch in response.
Within an hour post-debate, the Harris-Walz campaign began selling friendship bracelets inspired by popular Eras Tour accessories, which sold out in under a day. And after Trump slammed Swift for her endorsement and claimed she would “pay a price” for it, his campaign also released an official (and deeply cringeworthy) T-shirt inspired by Swift’s own merch.
Instead of the singer’s face, though, the $36 shirt features a grid of Trump images that include his mugshot, a photo from the rally where he was shot in the ear, of him “dancing,” and several iterations of him raising his fist in the air.
Swift clearly has a broad impact on culture at large (just take a look at the ride-or-die attitude of her closest followers or her ability to drive sales for the NFL). In the past, Fast Company has described her political endorsement as “the most coveted—and feared—in the world.”
Late last month, Trump tried to play off an AI deepfake of Swift as a real endorsement. Now, though, his team’s merch release in the wake of Swift’s endorsement of Harris feels like a hollow, desperate attempt to continue appealing to her massive fan base, which only further highlights the Harris-Walz campaign’s branding skills. Swift has yet to officially respond to Trump’s new merch play, and it’s unclear whether the design may be grounds for an IP suit.
Swift’s Harris endorsement, and the subsequent merch, come during a political cycle in which both campaigns are using merch to battle it out over their opposing ideological branding. Trump has his new “Never Surrender!” logo (appearing on hats, bumper stickers, and yard signs), which he adopted after being booked at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta on 13 felony charges; meanwhile, the Harris-Walz campaign has churned out Gen Z-targeting apparel like a Chappell Roan-inspired camo hat.
Fast Company reached out to Swift’s representation for comment on Trump’s new merch and will provide an update if we receive a response.