Harris-Walz campaign says sold-out friendship bracelets came together just 20 minutes after Taylor Swift’s endorsement

How did Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign mastermind the release of branded friendship bracelets an hour after Taylor Swift posted her endorsement to social media?

By moving swiftly, a spokesperson for the campaign said.

The two-pack of adjustable blue beaded friendship bracelets that spell out “Harris Walz 24″ were “decided on and built out in 20 minutes,” said the campaign spokesperson, reiterating that Swift’s endorsement was “completely organic” and took the ticket by surprise.

Swift endorsed Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on social media shortly after the presidential debate between Harris and former President Donald Trump concluded on ABC about 11 p.m. Tuesday. She shared her rationale alongside a photo of herself holding her cat Benjamin Button.

“I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader,” Swift wrote. She signed the message as a self-proclaimed “Childless Cat Lady,” a reference to comments made by JD Vance — Trump’s running mate — that disparaged women without children as having less of a stake in America’s future.

By 11:45 p.m., Harris’ deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty had posted on X that the friendship bracelets were selling for $20 on Harris’ official campaign website. The bracelets sold out “within hours,” the spokesperson said, and will ship out to buyers on Sept. 24. The campaign declined to share sales numbers of the bracelets.

Thanks to a reference to a lyric in Swift’s song “You’re on Your Own, Kid” that asks listeners to “make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it,” friendship bracelets became the unofficial symbol of the Eras Tour. Swifties would pregame the concerts by making beaded bracelets that spelled out song lyrics, titles, and inside jokes before handing them out to strangers during the shows.

But even before Swift endorsed Harris, friendship bracelets had become a fixture among Democratic organizers looking to engage Gen Z voters. The Democratic National Convention’s official host committee invited attendees to bead bracelets with pithy catchphrases at a public event in Chicago, while the official store of the Democratic Party sells a friendship-bracelet-themed line of mugs, coasters, totes, and T-shirts.

Google searches for voter registration spiked after Swift made her endorsement Tuesday, while a spokesperson for the General Services Administration told NPR that more than 306,000 people visited vote.gov directly from the URL Swift shared on Instagram.

The bracelets are just “are just another way to connect with people. … When you’re passing someone in the street and you see a friendship bracelet, you just assume they’re a Swiftie. Now we can also assume they’re for Harris,” said Charlotte McCracken, a 40-year-old Havertown mom, who cofounded Delco Women for Harris with four friends after seeing attendees at the campaign’s Philadelphia kickoff rally in August wearing friendship bracelets while waiting in line.

McCracken’s PAC hosted a voter registration and volunteer drive last weekend where the group sold more than 150 navy blue T-shirts screen-printed with the phrase “Delco Women for Harris” to raise funds for the campaign. Her children ran a bracelet-making station, stringing together beads that spelled out “vote.”

Peyton Giordano, vice president of the Temple University Democrats, said the student group is now considering adding bracelet-making events to their schedule of voter registration tabling.

A lifelong Swiftie who recalled making friendship bracelets to pass around before attending the Eras Tour at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., Giordano pointed out that the friendship bracelets’ origins as a fan-led initiative can also lend a grassroots aura to Harris’ campaign.

“They tie directly into the vibe we want the campaign to have,” Giordano, 21, said. “The people want to have a voice, and these bracelets make us feel like we’re not just individuals, but like we’re a part of something greater.”