Who is “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”? Tim Walz gave that title to Donald Trump — making a play on phrases straight from Taylor Swift‘s The Tortured Poets Department — in a speech on Saturday (Sept. 14) forward of the 2024 presidential election.

“Here’s my life hack for all the guys out there,” the Minnesota governor, Kamala Harris’ VP decide on the Democratic ticket, mentioned an occasion in Superior, Wisconsin. He’d simply voiced his respect for the clever girls surrounding him, together with spouse Gwen Walz, who’s an English trainer. “Surround yourself with smart women and listen to them, and you’ll do just fine. That includes my fellow cat owner Taylor Swift, too, by the way.”

“It’s really great to have all of these women help us beat the smallest man in the world: Donald Trump,” Walz mentioned to cheers, in an obvious nod to Swift’s Tortured Poets monitor referred to as “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.”

The Harris-Walz marketing campaign pivoted from a brat summer season to a Swift period when the pop star endorsed the pair after Harris and Trump’s Sept. 10 debate. In Swift’s endorsement of the Democratic candidates, she referred to as out Trump posting pretend AI pictures that had falsely prompt she supported the MAGA chief.

“It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation,” Swift mentioned concerning the doctored pictures Trump put up on his Truth Social feed. “It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.”

“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election,” she said.

“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 of Harris, including, “I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.”

Swift signed her publish as “Childless Cat Lady,” a zinger aimed toward Trump’s VP candidate JD Vance, who as soon as used that description to demean Democratic leaders with out kids.

Swift’s endorsement — posted on her 238 million-follower Instagram feed — introduced round 400,000 folks to the Vote.gov registration web site within the following days.

Harris used Swift’s “The Man” at a post-debate look, whereas Walz mentioned he’s “incredibly grateful” to Swift for her public assist. “I say that as a fellow cat owner,” he commented in an interview with MSNBC. “That was eloquent and that was clear and that’s the type of courage we need in America to stand up.”

Harris and Walz swiftly made friendship bracelets spelling “Harris-Walz” obtainable on their marketing campaign’s on-line retailer, with proceeds going to the Harris Victory Fund. Ads from the Democratic National Committee, unveiled on billboards in New York, quickly learn “We’re In Our Kamala Era!” and “A New Way Forward… Ready For It?”

Regarding who did encourage “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”: Swift doesn’t determine her precise muses, although the lyrics of the monitor, and others on the Billboard 200 15-week chart-topper The Tortured Poets Department, supply some hints to these aware of her public relationships.

“Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead?” Swift wonders of an ex-lover that ruined a “sparkling summer” by leaving her. “Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed? Were you writing a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy? In 50 years, will all this be declassified?”

“And you’ll confess why you did it,” she continues within the music’s uncooked bridge. “And I’ll say ‘good riddance’ ’cause it wasn’t sexy once it wasn’t forbidden. I would’ve died for your sins; instead, I just died inside. And you deserve prison, but you won’t get time.”

Watch Walz’s full speech from Saturday within the video beneath.