‘She knows her audience and won’t risk it’: Uh oh, Sabrina Carpenter fans are just realizing the singer’s silence about the election might be a bad sign

As Election Day jitters take hold, voters’ attention is turning to major celebrities who have remained quiet as the race to the White House nears its conclusion amid razor-thin polling results. 

One such celebrity who has been subject to criticism over not endorsing either presidential candidate is Sabrina Carpenter, who fans are realizing has not confirmed whether she’s voting for Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. The Short ‘n Sweet singer’s silence on the election comes in the wake of a swathe of celebrities who have made their choice of candidate known in recent days, especially those within the music industry. 

The discourse around Carpenter kicked off courtesy of a now-viral post on X, in which one user wrote that they “just realized Sabrina Carpenter didn’t endorse Kamala.” Naturally, since we’re talking about a bonafide icon like Carpenter, the message was accompanied by a GIF of the equally legendary Jennifer Coolidge looking rather perplexed. 

Iconic women aside, the user’s realization sparked debate in the replies section, with some saying Carpenter’s silence is indicative of a vote for Trump, or at least an attempt to not alienate large swathes of her fanbase. “She knows her audience and won’t risk it,” one user wrote, adding that while the majority of her fans are young, it’s “their dads [who] are paying for those tickets” to her shows. 

Side note, I wish I was young enough that I could ask my dad for a ticket to the Short ‘n Sweet tour without incurring major side-eye. It’s worth noting that while she hasn’t named exactly who she is voting for, Carpenter hasn’t been totally silent on the election. Just yesterday it was revealed that the pop star had — through giveaways, in-person activations and video boards on her tour — registered some 27,000 new voters ahead of Election Day.

That’s more than any other artist in 2024, and the feat was achieved through Carpenter’s partnership with the non-profit (and nonpartisan) organization, HeadCount. While they have made their candidates known (hint, it’s Harris), artists like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande have likewise partnered with HeadCount for past tours of their own, so the “Espresso” singer’s partial involvement in the election is at least valuable in getting young people out to vote, regardless of who for.

In any case, fans of the teeny tiny pop star have flocked to her defence amid the hullabaloo, arguing that she — and indeed famous people more broadly — are not required to make their political affiliations known. “When TF did ‘discuss politics’ get added to the list of responsibilities of these artists?,” one user questioned, “she is there to look good and make music.” Many other fans agreed with this sentiment, saying she’s “she’s not obligated to” to endorse a candidate and questioning why we “need celebrities to tell you who to vote for” in the first place. 

“She doesn’t have to share her political beliefs with the whole world,” another defender quipped. Littered throughout the debate are some hilarious users who’ve taken Carpenter’s non-endorsement to its sarcastic extreme, with one fan ironically saying we can now call her “MAGAbrina.” Others superimposed a MAGA hat on the pop star, which doesn’t look as good on her as that viral Harris/Walz hat would.  

In what is perhaps the clearest reason for Carpenter’s silence, one fan invoked her most famous lyric to suggest that perhaps she’s just too busy being an icon to endorse a candidate. “She’s working late dude,” they wrote.