Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark may be a relatively new celebrity, but she's already using her influence for social causes. The all-time NCAA scoring champion applauded Taylor Swift's Kamala Harris endorsement on Tuesday night, specifically the portion where she dropped voter registration links.
Clark spoke her mind after liking Swift's Instagram post, via ClutchPoints' Matthew Byrne.
“I think for myself. I have this amazing platform. I think the biggest thing would be to just encourage people to register to vote,” Clark said. “I think for myself, this is the second time that I can vote in an election at age 22, I could vote when I was 18. I think that's the biggest thing I can do with the platform that I have, that’s the same thing Taylor did, and continue to educate yourself with the candidates that we have, the policies they're supporting, I think that's the biggest thing you could do. That's what I recommend to every single person that has that opportunity in our country.”
Clark's commentary came one day after Harris debated former President Donald Trump for the first time. Shortly after the 90-minute back-and-forth ended, Swift posted a picture of her hugging her cat on Instagram, with an accompanying caption expressing her support of Harris, while also imploring her fans to vote.
Caitlin Clark could become a social symbol on the Fever
This isn't the first time that Clark's been involved with societal issues. Although the Iowa alum has never said anything controversial about race, her mere presence as a white person at the top of a Black-dominated sport has ruffled feathers.
Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson claimed that Clark's race helps her image, via the AP's Kyle Hightower.
“I think it’s a huge thing. I think a lot of people may say it’s not about Black and white, but to me, it is,” Wilson said. “It really is because you can be top-notch at what you are as a Black woman, but yet maybe that’s something that people don’t want to see. They don’t see it as marketable, so it doesn’t matter how hard I work. It doesn’t matter what we all do as Black women, we’re still going to be swept underneath the rug. That’s why it boils my blood when people say it’s not about race because it is.”
While Clark may not have asked to become a public symbol, it's inevitable for generational athletes to be thrust into that position. Only time will tell what the Fever's leader will do with it, but her comments on voter registration suggest that she's engaged with the world outside of hoops.