The singer and “childless cat lady” not only conquered the charts and streams this year. Also there: Donald Trump.
In a list of the most notable quotes of 2024 by Yale University, Taylor Swift made it to the top. This ranking not only lists quotes from personalities from the entertainment industry. Many politicians are also getting involved.
Swift tops the rankings
The “Fortnight” singer scored the top spot with a 9/11 caption on Instagram. Here she referred to herself as “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady.” She used this contribution at the time to support Democrat Kamala Harris as a presidential candidate. With “Childless Cat Lady,” the singer was referring to a three-year-old comment by US Vice President-elect JD Vance. The 40-year-old politician described the Democrats at the time as “a bunch of childless cat women who are unhappy with their own lives and the decisions they’ve made and therefore want to make the rest of the country unhappy too.”
No list of quotes without Donald Trump
In second place is a statement from the former US President Joe Biden. He said in an announcement on December 1st: “Today I signed a pardon for my son Hunter.” Background: Hunter Biden was charged with tax and weapons crimes. He was convicted of the latter in June. His son also pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges in September. Incidentally, the federal prosecutor investigating the case was appointed by Trump, which is why there have been different speculations about Trump’s political motivation. Joe Biden had previously emphasized several times that family ties should not be a reason for remission of sentences, let alone pardons.
Speaking of Donald Trump: He made it into the ranking immediately after Biden. During his debate against Harris on September 10, he said: “In Springfield they eat the dogs, the people who came here. They eat the cats.” According to the Associated Press, he was repeating an already exposed conspiracy against Haitian immigrants in Ohio. By the way, the 45th President of the United States appears again in the list. So he appears with: “Fight! Fight! Fight!”, which he shouted after an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania on July 13th, also at number five.
These sayings reflect “the spirit of our time”.
Other notable quotes include “I’ve become friends with school shooters” from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (#4) and “Yes, they can control the weather” from Marjorie Taylor Greene, a U.S. Representative (#6). As well as: “The court comes to the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist” from US District Judge Amit Mehta (10th place).
The list is compiled annually by an associate director of the Yale Law Library, Fred Shapiro. It is also a supplement to the book “The New Yale Book of Quotations,” which Shapiro was responsible for editing. Regarding his ranking, the American legal scholar said: “Please note that the quotations on this list are not necessarily eloquent or admirable quotations, but have been selected because they are famous or important or particularly reflect the spirit of our times According to the Associated Press.