Somehow, Donald Trump managed to do what no one else has been able to do: He pissed off Taylor Swift enough that she finally spoke out about this year's presidential election. On Tuesday, after the presidential debate between Trump and Kamala Harris, Swift released a statement She voiced her support for Harris and, as a byproduct, gave Trump perhaps one of the most infuriating nights of his life.
In her endorsement, Swift referenced a grotesque AI-generated image shared by Trump himself two weeks ago, which falsely depicted Swift as a clown-dressed Uncle Sam and her fans as Trump supporters. “It really brought out my fears about AI and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It has led me to the conclusion that as a voter, I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election,” she wrote, signing off as a “childless, cat-loving woman.”
Despite criticism of her silence thus far, the signs were there. Swift has been politically involved in the past. In 2018, she used Instagram to endorse the Tennessee Democrat in a Senate race against Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn, whose voting record on women and LGBTQ issues Swift disagreed with. Still, speaking out wasn't a choice she made lightly. In the Netflix documentary Miss Americana, Swift is seen agonizing over the possibility of alienating many of her home Tennessee fans who have supported her since she was a teenager singing country music. “They're not your dad's Republicans,” Swift tells the camera. “I need to be on the right side of history.”
“In the past I have been reluctant to publicly express my political opinions, but several events in my life and the world over the past two years have caused me to feel quite differently about it now,” she wrote in 2018. This was about Blackburn, but it was also clearly about Trump, to which Trump responded petulantly: “Let's just say I like her music about 25% less now.”
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But by 2020, Swift was less hesitant. Her lyrics were more explicitly left-leaning, pro-abortion, pro-LGBTQ, anti-racism and anti-sexism. She endorsed Joe Biden and Harris' campaign in an interview with Vogue magazine. She also tweeted that Trump has “stoked the fires of white supremacy and racism throughout his presidency.” “The tweet that could bring down the president”Trump left office six months later.
Her support for Biden has really irritated Trump: “Why would she support this idiot?” This year, TrumpHe recently complained online that Swift had chosen “the worst, most corrupt president in the history of our country” (all creative decisions regarding capitalization are his).
There's a beautiful symmetry in Swift's relationship with Trump: her blatant dislike and his desperation for her approval. In August, Trump shared a fake news article that falsely claimed Swift's fans were “pro-Trump.” A terrorist plot against her concert Swift's politics undoubtedly overlap with Harris's, but on Tuesday she spoke out against Harris' record-breaking “struggle for[ing] “I believe that rights and causes need warriors to defend them,” she said, but it was Trump who chipped away at her enigmatic veneer.
The most interesting thing about all of this is that Trump clearly likes Swift. She's everything he admires: rich, beautiful, famous, good at business. And she has roots in country music, historically conservative territory. (Most of Trump's celebrity endorsements are male country singers, like Jason Aldean, Kid Rock, and Lee Greenwood.) Journalist Ramin Setoodeh When asked if he liked her music, Trump replied, “I don't know, but she's liberal. Or is that an act?” When told it wasn't an act, Trump replied, “It's amazing. It's amazing. It's amazing that a country star can be liberal and be successful.”
Setoodhe See below Stating that Trump is “totally obsessed” with Taylor Swift, Swift added, “I think it would be too hard for Donald Trump to accept the fact that someone so famous and with such a large platform would not endorse his candidacy, so I think he secretly has a soft spot for him…Even Donald Trump understands the value of Taylor Swift's endorsement.”
Now, her endorsement has shifted to her opponent. Last month, there were brief rumors that she would endorse Harris on stage at the Democratic National Convention, but even a Harris aide denied the rumors. He made this startling statement to Deadline“Everybody loves Taylor, but when she's here, everything goes into the shadows. Think about it, nobody's gonna remember a word.” [Harris] “All the headlines are going to be about Swift,” she said in her acceptance speech.
So why isn't Swift endorsing Harris? She has no leverage. She has nothing to lose. By many standards, she is the most influential musician of all time. And, as an anonymous insider feared, in her own way, she is more influential than any of the candidates for U.S. president.
