The music industry's favourite problematic white girl has broken her silence regarding the 2024 US presidential election, and let’s just say it’s been a long time coming.
From her recent controversy regarding hugging a supposed Trump supporter, Brittany Mahomes, to not speaking about Trump sharing an AI-generated image of her endorsing his campaign (which she has now spoken on), and to her deafening silence on the genocide in Gaza, it has really felt as if Taylor Swift's time speaking on politics was a product of another era (Lover, to be exact).
But at long last Taylor has made it abundantly clear where she stands, and while many have been quick to point out how calculated this feels from the friendship bracelets on Kamala’s website for sale, and Kamala walking out of the presidential debate to The Man, I couldn't help but think … yes, and?
Taylor Swift is quite literally the biggest figure in the music industry, she was TIME’s person of the year in 2023, and is one of the most record-breaking artists of all time. Every single thing she does is calculated and that makes sense. Taylor would not be able to like a TikTok without Tree Paine’s expressed approval. Celebrities have teams of marketing and publicity people, this should not be shocking to anyone. So why is it such an issue when Taylor is viewed as calculated, and does it really take away from the impact that her endorsements have?
From early on in Miss Swift’s career, she was urged by every person in her team “Don’t be like The Dixie Chicks”, referencing the band's career-defining controversy when they spoke ill of then-President Bush, saying “We're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.”
According to Taylor, this incident would shape much of how she spoke about politics for a majority of her early career, due to her being afraid of the potential backlash she could receive for seemingly turning her back on her stereotypically conservative country fans, which at the start of her career was a large part of her fanbase. While this move is quite selfish, it is also understandable.
When she finally broke her silence on politics in October of 2018, she made her support for queer people, people of colour and women evident. There were a slew of other political posts in the intervening years, including tweeting to then President Trump that “We will vote you out in November”. From endorsing Biden and Harris in 2020, to showing support for the Black Lives Matter movement, she was speaking out fairly regularly regarding politics.
After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’??? We will vote you out in November. @realdonaldtrump
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 29, 2020
However, from 2021 until yesterday, Taylor made a few scarce comments regarding anything political. Yikes.
To be really frank, I am a massive Swiftie, but fuck it has been a rough few years trying to continue liking someone who was not using her platform - that has only gotten bigger and bigger due to the success of The Eras Tour - for good. It seemed to many as if she was only political when it suited her rehabilitating her image that was tarnished in 2016, and now that she is at the highest peak of her career that politics don’t matter to her anymore. It seemed like she wanted to be as universally likeable as possible, so staying silent would help that. But Taylor Swift is never going to be universally liked, she is a celebrity that will always be marred in controversy, so every move she makes has to be incredibly strategic. In 2022 Taylor claimed to be a “Mastermind”, and now with this recent endorsement, she is living up to that title.
Regardless of how people feel about Taylor, the impact she has can never be understated or underappreciated. More than 160,000 people registered to vote within 48 hours of Taylor Swift breaking her political silence in 2018. When she urged her fans to register to vote in 2023, there were over 35,000 registrations according to Vote.org.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Government Services Administration has confirmed this week that “As of 2:00 P.M. on Wednesday, September 11, there have been 337,826 visitors to vote.gov referred from the custom URL created and shared by Ms. Swift,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The significance of celebrity endorsements can not be understated. However, seeing the impact that Taylor Swift has when she choses to use her platform for good just makes it all the more frustrating when she stays silent on important matters, specifically the Gaza Genocide. And while there is an argument to make that speaking on this issue could be a threat to her and her fans' safety (especially given the planned attacks in Vienna), Ariana Grande’s political support comes to mind.
Ariana’s 2017 Manchester Arena concert bombing was a tragedy, and yet the fear of angering people has not stopped Ariana from continuing to be politically active, with her posting frequently about Palestine. While Swift and Grande are not quite on the same level, it's close.
There will never be a day when Taylor Swift isn’t controversial, given she can’t even eat chicken tenders and “seemingly ranch” sauce without causing a viral shitstorm of takes online, so it's no surprise that every move that she makes is calculated. And while I hate that no male artists will ever be scrutinised on this level, I think examining major figures' impact is worthwhile. Let’s hope that she keeps talking and using her platform for good more than twice a year, although I will not be holding my breath.