Taylor Swift has seemingly shocked a portion of her fanbase by coming out in support of Presidential hopeful Kamala Harris, and never in their wildest dreams did some fans see this move coming.
The singer waited until livid former President Donald Trump, who attempted to sneak his way to an endorsement from Swift via AI-generated images, had been soundly drubbed by likely future President Harris to make the very public statement that she would be voting Democrat.
This has come as a surprise to a small portion of Swifties who missed all the other times Swift has weighed in for the Dems over the last few years. It is fair to say that Swift, somewhat self-admittedly, attempted to remain a figure of political mystery for much of her early career, but that has changed in recent years, leading to a cruel end to summer for some of her Republican fans.
While it’s rarely a true love story between public figures and stans these days, one poor Swiftie felt so betrayed that she took to the streets to burn her merchandise and replace it with garb more fitting her political leanings. The bad blood didn’t end there, as the fan loudly proclaimed that the migrants are, in fact, eating the cats before donning a red MAGA hat, by now a symbol of those with a simple worldview. It’s Trump or nothing for them.
I could understand the surprise had it not been for the numerous times Swift had either endorsed Democrats and their politics, or had stood publicly against elements of political and social change that Republicans had been pushing for.
2018 saw her endorse Democratic candidates Phis Bredesen for the Senate and Jim Cooper for the House of Representatives. 2019 saw public support for the Equality Act that would legislate against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Trump was not a fan of the legislation, and later that year, Swift would refer to his presidency as “an autocracy” in an interview with the Guardian.
The bad blood continued between Swift and the Republicans, although some fans apparently didn’t notice, in 2020 when she endorsed Joe Biden for President. 2022 saw her lament the overturning of Roe V. Wade, setting back womens’ right to self-determination in the country.
So yes, I guess if you were a fan of Swift and had spent huge volumes of money on her music, merchandise, and tour tickets, you might not know what her politics were if you had simply never listened to her speak. Ever.
A lot of this boils down to the loss of media literacy, an ever-growing issue in the political sphere where politicians who vote in favor of war tend to gravitate toward walking on stage to “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, a rather famous anti-war song.
For too many folks, it seems that liking something means that it must be something they agree with, and any thought contrary to that is ushered from their mind in record time. It is akin to former Congressman Paul Ryan being a self-proclaimed fan of Rage Against The Machine. You are the absolute definition of the machine, buddy. The machine blueprint has your face on it.
Unfortunately for the now-former Swifties who are selling their Eras Tour tickets in protest, they are being cheered on by others who wish to buy them so they can go and see Taylor do her thing. Sadly, not even political grandstanding has much of an impact in the face of high demand for escapism these days.
I’m sure loyal Swifties will have no problem filling stadiums from now until November and then heading out on voting day to have their say.