With the 2024 presidential election quickly approaching and the first debate between candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on Tuesday night, many figures in sports have recently signaled their political leans on social media. And on Wednesday, Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark fielded a question in a press conference about her own political views.
Pop music icon Taylor Swift made waves after Tuesday’s debate by endorsing Harris in the upcoming election with a post on Instagram that comedically featured a picture of her with her cat.
Given Swift’s massive audience of followers, it’s perhaps no surprise that the post already has 9.5 million likes and counting. But interestingly, one of the likes from the post happened to come from Clark.
Naturally, Clark was asked by Christine Brennan of USA Today during Wednesday’s press conference whether liking the post meant that she also planned to endorse Harris in the near future. Clark responded by instead urging people to vote after educating themselves on the policies each candidate supports.
“I think for myself, I have this amazing platform,” said Clark. “So I think the biggest thing would be just to encourage people to register to vote. I think for myself, this is the second time that I’ll be able to vote on an election. Age 22, I could vote at 18. So I think do that, that’s the biggest thing I can do with the platform that I have. That’s the same thing that Taylor did. I think, continue to educate yourself with the candidates that we have, the policies that they’re supporting. That’s the biggest thing we can do and that’s what I would recommend to every single person that has that opportunity in our country.”
I asked Caitlin Clark about her “like” of Taylor Swift’s Instagram post endorsing Kamala Harris. She answered by saying she has an “amazing platform” and encourages everyone to register to vote. pic.twitter.com/aymRZakuNx
— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) September 11, 2024
Clark is far from the first athlete opting not to publicly state their political affiliation. Even if her liking Swift’s Instagram post may be a hint into her political lean.
Michael Jordan made this approach famous when he uttered the words “Republicans buy sneakers too” during his own playing career.
Instead of pushing her own personal views on the general public, Clark is instead taking the approach of urging people to decide for themselves based on their own beliefs, which is certainly commendable.
