Who is the 'smallest man who ever lived'? Tim Walz gave that title to Donald Trump – making a play on words straight out of Taylor Swift Department of Tormented Poets — in a speech on Saturday (September 14) ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
“This is my life for all the guys out there,” the Minnesota governor, Kamala Harris' running mate on the Democratic ticket, said at an event in Superior, Wisconsin. He had just expressed his respect for the smart women around him, including wife Gwen Walz, who is an English teacher. “Surround yourself with smart women and listen to them, and you'll do just fine. That includes my fellow cat owner Taylor Swift, by the way.”
“It's really great to have all these women helping us defeat the smallest man in the world: Donald Trump,” Walz said to cheers, in an apparent nod to Swift. Tormented poets piece called “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.”
The Harris-Walz campaign has been pivoting since the summer of the undead in the Swift era, when the pop star endorsed the couple after the Harris-Trump debate on Sept. 10. Endorsing Democratic candidates from Swift, she called out Trump for posting fake AI images that falsely suggest she's endorsing the MAGA leader.
“It really brought up my fears about artificial intelligence and the dangers of spreading misinformation,” Swift said of the distorted images Trump uploaded to his Truth Social feed. “It has led me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my real plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.”
“I will vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 presidential election,” he declared.
“I think she's a solid, talented leader, and I think we can accomplish so much more in this country if we're led by calm rather than chaos,” Swift wrote of Harris, adding, “I was thrilled and impressed by his choice to her partner @timwalz, who has been championing LGBTQ+ rights, IVF and a woman's right to her own body for decades.”
Swift captioned her post as “Childless Cat Lady,” a couplet aimed at Trump's running mate, J.K.
Swift's endorsement — posted to her 238 million Instagram followers' feed — brought about 400,000 people to the Vote.gov registration site in the following days.
Harris used Swift's “The Man” in a performance after the debate, while Walsh said he was “incredibly grateful” to Swift for her public support. “I say this as a fellow cat owner,” he commented in an interview with MSNBC. “It was eloquent and that was clear and that's the kind of courage we need in America to stand up.”
Harris and Walz quickly created friendship bracelets spelling out “Harris-Walz” available on their campaign's online store, with proceeds going to the Harris Victory Fund. The Democratic National Committee ads, unveiled on billboards in New York, soon read “We are in our Kamala Time!” and “A New Way Forward… Ready For It?”
On who inspired 'The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived': Swift doesn't acknowledge her real-life muses, though the track's lyrics and others on Billboard 200's 15-week chart-topper Department of Tormented Poetsoffers some advice to those familiar with her public relations.
“Did someone send you who wanted me dead?” Swift wonders about an ex-lover who ruined a “brilliant summer” by leaving her. “Did you sleep with a gun under 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,” he continues on the song's raw bridge. “And I'm going to say 'good riddance' because it wasn't sexy when it wasn't banned. I would have died for your sins. Instead, I just died inside. And you deserve prison, but you won't get time.”
Watch Walz's entire speech from Saturday in the video below.
