Ousted CNN anchor Don Lemon issues urgent demand from Taylor Swift before election

Fired CNN host Don Lemon is calling on pop star Taylor Swift to come forward and express her support for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Lemon, 58, made his plea to DailyMail.com as he walked the streets of New York City’s Greenwich Village on Friday. He predicted her endorsement would encourage younger voters to cast their ballots for Harris in November.

Swift, who has nearly 500 million followers on her social media accounts, has stayed out of politics lately, preferring to stay out of the political game to avoid alienating her fans, the so-called “Swifties.” She has spoken out in 2020.

But for Lemon, time is of the essence and he believes Swift should once again make her political preferences clear.

“Taylor Swift needs to step up. She’s very influential. She can swing an election,” Lemon said.

“If she believes in women’s reproductive rights and women’s right to choose — and democracy, I would say Taylor Swift should speak up. It would be a missed opportunity if she doesn’t use her platform for good,” Lemon said.

Swift has previously criticized the GOP candidate and vowed to “vote” [him] ‘out’ of the 2020 election after being ‘completely surprised’ by his 2016 victory.

Before Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, Swift kept her political affiliations secret, leading some to suspect she was secretly a Republican.

But during the 2018 midterm elections, she threw her strong support behind Tennessee Democrats, including Senate candidate Phil Bredesen and House candidate Jim Cooper.

She explains in a post on Instagram: ‘I used to be reluctant to publicly express my political views, but due to various events in my life and in the world over the past two years, I now feel very differently about that.

“I have always voted based on the candidate who will protect and fight for the human rights that I believe we all have a right to in this country.”

In 2020, the Blank Space singer expressed his full support for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

“I will proudly vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in this year’s presidential election,” she said. “Under their leadership, I believe America has a chance to begin the healing process it so desperately needs,” she said in an interview with V Magazine ahead of the election.

She also tagged Trump in an X-post where she railed against him: “After fanning the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you dare feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ‘When the looting starts, the shooting starts’??? We’re voting you out in November.”

In her 2020 documentary Miss Americana, Swift further elaborated on her decision to speak publicly about politics: “I have to be on the right side of history.”

Swift is a staunch ally of the LGBTQ community. She also criticized the United States Supreme Court after it overturned Roe v Wade, ending the constitutional right to abortion in 2022.

The Swifties have taken action to show their support for Vice President Kamala Harris. The account ‘@Swifties4Kamala’ X now has 76,000 followers.

At the Democratic National Committee convention in Chicago last month, Swift was even honored with stations where DNC attendees could make friendship bracelets, which Swifties exchange at concerts and fan gatherings.

The New York Times reported earlier this year that Joe Biden’s campaign was actively seeking Swift’s endorsement.

Trump has previously questioned whether Swift is a “legitimate liberal” or whether it’s all a sham.

The former president discussed the megastar in an interview with Variety co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh for his book Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass, which was released in June.

“She’s a liberal, or is that just an act?” Trump asked. “She’s a legitimate liberal? It’s not an act?”

He added: “It amazes me that a country star can be successful while being a liberal.”

Lemon was fired from CNN in April 2023 after a brief and disastrous stint as a morning show host.

His sudden demise came months after he said then-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was past her prime.

CNN Chairman and CEO Chris Licht announced that they had “parted ways.” Lemon described it as a resignation and said it came as a surprise to him.

“After 17 years at CNN, I would have thought someone in management would have the decency to tell me directly,” Lemon said.

CNN did not provide a public explanation for Lemon’s firing.

During the conversation that eventually led to his departure, along with hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, about the age of politicians, he said Haley was not “in her prime.”

A woman, he said, was considered to be in her prime “in her twenties, thirties, maybe even forties.”

Harlow challenged Lemon, trying to clarify what he was referring to: “I think we have to qualify. Are you talking about the best time to have children or are you talking about the best time to be president?”

“Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just telling the facts,” Lemon replied.